I recently came across this quote and it reminded me of Philippians 2:16: “Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless” (NLT).
Paul, the author of Philippians, was referring to himself in this verse. But I think it’s completely applicable to those of us who have run the infertility race. It really is a race, isn’t it? For some, it may be a sprint. For others, a marathon.
Running is hard. It involves sweat and muscle aches. It’s so much easier to take a nice, leisurely stroll instead. But people run because they know it’s good for them.
If we look closely at this verse, we see that running the race Paul talks about is good not just for us. We run for the benefit of others. In this verse in particular, Paul views the difficulties of his race as an aid to the Philippians’ faith. He was ready to run a tough, dangerous race if it means that it benefitted others.
Can you see the parallel here in our own lives? Running the race of hope not only benefits our souls in that we maintain our own hope, but it benefits others by strengthening their hope. I think this is a universal truth- no matter what your religious beliefs may be. Our strength strengthens others. Our hope gives hope to others.
So if your hope tank is full today, think about how you can spread it around. If your hope tank is low, find other people (or other blogs) who do have hope and drink in some of the hope they have. If their hope seems cliche or fake, move on until you find someone with whom you can resonate. My prayer is that you’ll find some hope here in my blog, but if not, that’s okay, too. Perhaps you can find a kindred spirit by reading some of the stories of the men and women I’ve interviewed and checking out their blogs. Don’t stop until you have your hope back.
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