A Push

I ran a 5K race yesterday in Boulder, at mile high altitude. Coming into the last half mile, I was breathing pretty hard, and thought that I was running max effort. My coach came up alongside me. He had been watching the race. Then he began to run with me and told me to run faster, to push harder. I thought I could not. I wanted him to go away. But I kept trying to run harder. Lots of pain and suffering came with this effort. When I finished the race, I realized that I would have run a lot slower if he had not "pestered" me. He believed in me and was encouraging me to do more. God can be like that. God comes up real close to me when I think I am doing fine in my faith and practice. God calls for more. I don't think I can do it, but if I try, then I will find out that I had more in my spiritual life than I thought. Jesus rose from the dead and "pestered" his disciples, telling them to go throughout the world and preach repentance. They were having trouble believing he was real! Jesus knew they had a lot more in them than they even knew. We all do. So be careful when you feel God near to you. It could challenge you to move out of your comfort zone. You might find your potential become a reality, as real as the Risen Jesus.