"Life is not a sprint, it's a marathon." So often we find ourselves racing through life as if we are sprinting. We don't take the time to just stop for a moment and realize what we have. We often find ourselves saying "I want this, or I wish I had that." Most days we aren't grateful for what we have. Instead of realizing we are blessed, we are always stressed about something.

Life is indeed a race. But sometimes I think we get confused on how to run the race. We think that sprinting is the way to win, and I'm here to tell you it's not. Do you remember the story, "The Tortoise and the Hare?" Well, do you remember who won that race? The tortoise. You see, life's not all about who gets to where they are going first or accomplishes something first. Actually, the people who often get what they want without having to even work for it end up finding out something is missing. Life's challenges are how we learn, how we grow, and how we earn a sense of reward and accomplishment.

We should live our lives in a way where we take the time to stop and notice all the wonderful things and people we have. Because when it comes down to it, the more you have isn't what matters, it's being grateful for what you have that matters most.

Life is the longest thing there is so what it the point to sprint when we can run a marathon and enjoy life. Life is meant to be a marathon. There will be times where we feel on top of the world. And there will be other times where we feel like we are running up a never ending hill and that we won't ever reach the top. But you see that is how we should look at things. Life is not always going to be great, we are going to have those obstacles but that is why it's a marathon.

Hebrews 12:1 says.... "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

You see God already has our own race marked out for us. He knows every detail of our life and so we must not doubt his plan.

So I challenge you, the next time you are sprinting through life, just take a step back, take a breath and realize that life is a marathon. Embrace the good times and learn from the hard times because those are the things that will allow you to grow in life.

God didn't put us on this earth to live this perfect and easy life. He never said that it would be easy! However He did say "Never will I leave you or forsake you." -Hebrews 13:5. It's inevitable that we are going to have trials in life. But how we learn to deal with those trials is the real test. Do we find ways to avoid them and sprint through the trials, or do we take the challenge of running a marathon and work through the trials? The choice is yours. What will it be?