And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” (1 Kings 19:7)
There was a time when I only ran to escape.
I ran when I was angry, when I was sad, when everything in my life felt completely out of control. Running became the one thing I could manage—my speed, my distance, my breath. When my medical diagnosis came and when my feet felt unsteady with the weight of uncertainty, running each mile was the only steadiness I could find. In the beginning, it wasn’t about joy or even trying to get more miles underneath my belt, it was about coping. It was about survival.
THE OTHER RUNNER
There is another runner in the Bible, Elijah. He thought he had achieved a great victory at Mount Carmel. God had shown up, and the false prophets of Baal were obliterated. Shortly after, Elijah’s prayers brought rain to his nation after a 7-year drought. Elijah was elated. But word got out to Queen Jezebel (it was her prophets who were eliminated at Mount Carmel). She put a contract on Elijah’s life.
PRAYED THAT HE MIGHT DIE
Exhausted and feeling like a failure, “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” (I Kings 19:3-5)
CHANGE IN DIRECTION
The Lord didn’t take his life. Instead, an angel showed up twice saying to him, “Arise and eat”. The second time, the angel said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” Elijah did what the angel of the Lord asked and went in the strength of the Lord. He stopped running away and traveled in the new direction God gave him.
GOD RAN BESIDE ME
Just like Eljiah, the miles began to change me too. The air felt a little lighter. The ache in my heart began to soften. And as the leaves crunched beneath my feet, I realized that even in the pain, God ran beside me all along.
My friend Olysa has often joined me on those runs. She’s shown up beside me, sometimes in silence, sometimes in laughter, but always faithfully.
Sometimes our journeys begin in chaos—messy, painful, and overwhelming, but God has a way of writing beauty from the brokenness. Like Elijah, we find ourselves walking into unknown places, trusting that somehow, the path will lead to a new mile.
SHOWING UP FOR THE RUN
The long run of faith isn’t about speed or strength. It’s about showing up step by step, breath by breath, mile by mile, while trusting that even in our hardest miles, God’s presence will carry us forward.
If you would have told me 10 years ago, I would enjoy running, or running miles at a time, I would strongly disagree, but now, running isn’t just an escape, it’s my way of connecting with God mile by mile.
How can you connect with God through your own miles?