“Run as fast as you can towards God, and if someone keeps up, introduce yourself.” You may have heard this saying before. What does that mean? How can running towards God with someone running next to you at the same pace be the key to finding the one? I think it's really important to understand the answer to that question and how it can make or break a relationship.
Over the past nine months, my girlfriend and I have been walking out this journey. Our faith has taken center stage and served as a foundation to build our relationship upon. It hasn't always been this way, and I think it’s important to acknowledge that. We aren't perfect and no one is, but through our mistakes, we have discovered again and again how the love of God always brings us back to where we need to be. Being able to grow with one another in a very personal way has been really incredible and allowed us to maintain a close and honest relationship. It's not about trying to be the perfect girlfriend or boyfriend – there is no expectation to try to please each other. Whether it’s a random drive to get lost and enjoy whatever is around or just showing up at her house and surprising her, love is not a list of required steps — it’s given freely without restrictions.
In order to really understand what that means, we’ve learned that our main focus has to be drawing close to Jesus. If our foundation is built on a feeling and how great it feels to be in love, it’s easy to let the feeling dictate our relationship. In reality, our faith should be first, and no matter what we may be feeling, our faith gives us the strength to fight. Our relationship is about making Christ the center, not only individually, but as a couple. I think the most important thing in a relationship is to recognize the importance of loving God first, and your significant other second. Finding your significant other should happen while you are trying to love and know God deeper in every part of your life. The perfect one for you will be someone who is trying to love and know God just as deeply as you are — and you don’t have to search for them, God will connect your journeys in His perfect timing.
I was always intrigued as to why the quote says to only introduce yourself if they "keep up". Why that particular phrasing? I think I've finally discovered the meaning of why. The best way I can explain it is in an analogy. Imagine a three legged race. Two people tied together trying to reach the end line together. A relationship is the same way: two people connected through vulnerability and the connection that a godly relationship brings walking through life together. So imagine in the race one person is running faster than the other. I'm sure you can imagine the results, for somebody would end up either tripping or having to slow down. Why? Because the pace was off and the faster person caused the other to fall.
In our "race" (which is actually much more of a marathon with Jesus), if one person is ahead in their spiritual journey, they will stumble or slow down. This creates an unhealthy lack of what both people need spiritually. The importance of being the same pace is that two can spiritually become closer as one and build each other up, smile in the successes, grow through the hard moments and understand each other better than anyone else can. The relationship prospers and the relationship between us and our Father is simultaneously brought to a new level of reality and respect.
A verse I use to illustrate this point is Amos 3:3. It says, "Do two people walk hand in hand if they aren't going to the same place?" If you aren’t riding the same train as your significant other, then it won’t be the best it can be. I know that love, true love, can and will overcome any roadblock because true love is so much more than emotion. It is walking the journey out with Christ at the center and growing spiritually together as we run the marathon God has set before us.
So “run as fast as you can towards God, and if someone keeps up, introduce yourself.” While godly relationships are certainly not quite as simplistic as this quote, the quote reveals a pretty good way to start. There is no better way to start a relationship than in the midst of the pursuit of God with someone who loves God just as much as you, and I can testify through my current relationship that this quote is not only correct but an inspiration as to how to build the firmest foundation.
