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RUNNING PLAN

Topics: Christlikeness; Maturity; Perseverance; Planning; Spiritual Growth

References: Luke 14:27–31; Romans 8:29; Philippians 3:7–16

When I first ran track in prep school, my coach invited me to his home for dinner. After the meal, he pulled out a notebook with my name on the front cover. He turned to the back page, which bore the heading “June 1957”—three and a half years away.

“Gordon, these are the races I’m going to schedule you to run about four years from now. Here are the times you will achieve.”

I looked at those times. They were light-years away from where I was as a runner. Then Coach began turning back the pages of that book, page by page, showing the forty-two months he had scheduled for workouts. These were the graduated, accelerated plans for my increasing skill on the track in the coming months.

Coaches and other leaders know the necessity of strategic, long-range planning. Similarly, a wise and all-knowing God has a plan for our lives, as down through the years we gradually become more like Jesus.

—Gordon MacDonald, from a message delivered at the Promise Keepers “Go the Distance” conference (August 11, 2000)