Running Towards Purpose

Last year I ran a marathon.

And by marathon, I mean a 5k, but we all know that it may as well have been a marathon!

I trained a few times beforehand, as much training as one can do when they decide a month out. But I didn’t start to get a sense of what I had signed up for until my friend Csilla and I went to pick up our numbers the day before the race. The morning of the race, we went down to the start line, and what an atmosphere! Everyone was fresh and ready to go, stretching, chugging water, listening to music, and doing whatever people do to hype themselves.

And then the starting gun went off.

Not gonna lie, the first 30 seconds were great. However, this was quickly followed by a small sense of “what have I got myself into,” followed by that grit and determination that has to kick in if you’re gonna keep running past when your brain tells you to stop.

The rest of the run is a blur of pain and breathlessness. But I’ll tell you something—when we were finally on the home stretch and could see the big archway that signaled the end of the run, somehow there was an extra reserve of energy that came sneaking up my spine, straightened me up, and whisked me home across that line at quite a pace!

There’s something about seeing the thing you’re aiming for, right? I’ve often heard that people need vision, they need purpose, they need something they can get behind. Even to the point where people will print out pictures depicting goals and put them on the fridge! But read this:

“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy is he.”
Proverbs 29:18

Isn’t it funny how in this proverb vision and law are held hand in hand? It’s almost like one cannot exist without the other. But law feels so constricting, while vision seems the opposite. So what is Solomon trying to say by partnering these two things together here in this verse?

When my ‘partner in crime’ Amanda left the mission field, I felt a little lost in my work. She was definitely more than a work colleague, but one of the biggest gaps I’ve found since she left was her ability to break down the big jobs we shared into smaller, more manageable bites. And boy is it noticeable—not just in the day-to-day work, but also in the way the bigger vision actually plays out.

And then these two realizations collided. The big picture of completing a job actually depends on breaking it into manageable daily tasks. This intentional structure—which often requires self-imposed limitations—looks just like Solomon’s pairing of vision and law.

Let me use my marathon as an example. During the run itself, I did not have the immediate freedom to start at any point, run off in any direction I chose, and finish whenever and wherever I wanted. There were rules for starting, enduring, and finishing. But what was the result of those boundaries? Well, I have the satisfaction of having run a race, finished a challenge, and completed the task. Extra bonus if I was able to breathe a little easier that week from the pounds I dropped. I had conquered myself and my inherent desire for unlimited freedom, and in doing so, had achieved something truly good.

“When we read the Bible and its laws, we should see them as God’s way of breaking down a big vision into achievable steps, both on a large scale and an individual level.”

When Amanda set work calendars for us, it sometimes felt constrictive to my go-with-the-flow workflow style, but the results were undeniable: big, sometimes overwhelming jobs were getting done! This sense of accomplishment was deeply rewarding. Working alongside her, we tackled these seemingly insurmountable tasks together, and it was golden.

Similarly, when we read the Bible and its laws, we should see them as God’s way of breaking down a big vision into achievable steps, both on a large scale and an individual level. By asking us to limit our immediate ‘freedoms,’ He provides us with the framework to experience greater freedom in the long run.

So that is how I’m going to approach 2025. I’m going to set a vision for the long run, clearly defined by boundary lines. While the vision will help me to see where I’m going, the boundary lines will help in a practical sense by keeping me in my lane.

Because here’s what I've learned: when you have a vision and boundaries working together, it becomes easier to press on even when the going gets tough. So, as I step into this new year, I’m asking God to help me define both my vision and my boundaries, trusting that the joy and satisfaction of finishing strong will far outweigh any temporary discomfort along the way.

So here's looking ahead to 2025!