ULTRAMARATHONS OF FAITH by: Ena du Plessis, South Africa

“Christianity isn’t for the little engine that can. It’s for the train wreck that can’t.” – Daniel Emery Price.

It has become a yearly institution for me and my husband to run the Comrades
Marathon. This road race between the South African cities of Pietermaritzburg and Durban measures approximately ninety kilometres, or fifty-six miles – in other words, more than double the distance of a standard marathon.

Several Comrades runners, including myself, can testify that in the final twenty to
thirty kilometres of this gruelling ultra, your body starts to scream at you to give up. In
those final twenty to thirty kilometres it’s no longer your body that runs. It’s your spirit,
your heart, and your mind.

Isn’t this remarkably similar to what we encounter in our faith journey – particularly
when we find ourselves on a course of praying, fighting, and believing for a major
breakthrough? When our race becomes long and arduous, we reach a point of
realising that our natural strength is insufficient to pull us through to the end goal. We
learn that to be victorious, we are going to have to run with our spirit, our heart, and
our mind.

Jesus Christ – our Forerunner as per Hebrews 6:20 – has taught us to worship God
“in spirit and truth” (John 4:24). Why? Because “God is Spirit”. We can only complete
our divine assignments successfully if our spirit is continually being led by His Spirit.
When every stride becomes an act of worship, we find enjoyment in the race. When
we worship, we are delighting ourselves in the LORD. In so doing we position
ourselves to receive from Him the desire of our hearts, as per Psalm 37:4. An
interesting interpretation of this verse, is that not only does our Father give us the
objects of our hearts’ desire, but also He is the One who places those very desires in
our hearts. What an encouraging thought to hold on to when the road becomes long!
Our ultramarathon of believing and contending for our miracle, was His idea. We
need not doubt that He will enable us to finish strong.

Just as vital as our spirits to the faith-endurance race, are our hearts and our minds.
In the Book of Proverbs and the Epistle to the Romans respectively, we are urged to
guard our hearts and to be transformed by the renewal of our minds (Proverbs 4:23;
Romans 12:2). This is an ongoing process. I believe that the enemy of our souls
knows full well that a successful attack on our hearts and minds can derail us
completely. It is no coincidence that two of the pieces of the armour of God are
meant to specifically cover the head and the chest. For our minds and hearts to stay
protected, we need to keep our helmets of salvation and our breastplates of
righteousness in place. Rejecting all thoughts of fear and anxiety, we must push
forward in supernatural peace and soundness of mind. (Ephesians 6:10-20;
Philippians 4:6-8; 2 Timothy 1:7.)

Some of our faith races are sprints – intense, but quick. Others are longer and
require more endurance. But it’s in the ultramarathons that we come face to face
with our own inadequacy, as well as the impossibility of the breakthrough we are
seeking. This is an incredible blessing. It forces us to continue the remainder of the
race under the close and continuous direction of the One with Whom the impossible
is possible (Matthew 19:26). As evangelist Angus Buchan has famously said, “The
condition for a miracle is difficulty. For a great miracle it’s impossibility.”

Ena du Plessis lives in Johannesburg, South Africa with her husband, three children, and two cats. She loves the Lord, people, and animals. She enjoys running, reading, writing, camping, and spending time with family and friends.