The Day My Run Took An Unexpected Turn

“Remember to stay inside the neighborhood,” my husband warned me. “That main road is too isolated.”

“But it’s my long run training day,” I responded. “The lady next door told me that if I take a right that road takes me into the neighborhood next to this one. It’s a loop that ends up right back here.”

“We’re vacationing in the country, remember? What if you run into a wild animal, or a wild person out there?” he insisted.

“Ok, ok,” I said. “Don’t worry!” I grabbed my phone and ran out the door before he could say anything else.

The sunny skies and summer breeze welcomed me with a warm embrace. I skipped and walked to warm up, just like a little girl on her way to a birthday party.

The tall trees pointed straight into the sky as their dark green branches swayed at the beat of the wind. Flowers adorned my view. Birds of different sizes and colors danced in the air and squirrels played hide-and-seek with each other.

I was so engrossed in my run and my beautiful surroundings that I “kind of” forgot my husband’s warning and jogged past the entrance of the neighborhood and onto the main road. Suddenly I realized that my path got narrow and lonely. There was dead silence other than the music playing on my phone.

A deer appeared out of nowhere. I froze like a statue in the middle of the road. It stared at me for a second and kept going.

My heart raced faster than when running sprints, but I couldn’t move.

When my body finally responded I scanned my surroundings. The sky disappeared behind enormous branches that hugged each other. The birds decided to obey my husband and stay behind.

I looked at my phone: not a single bar of service. My stomach tied in a knot. The road ahead was curvy, and I couldn’t see what was on the other side of the curve or what was behind the walls of trees on either side.

Then, I remembered Joshua. He was commissioned to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land, without a GPS or a map.  He knew he would encounter enemies, but he couldn’t see what was on the other side of the river and beyond the hills.

But God did. That’s why He reminded Joshua:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Many times, we wonder what’s ahead in our future. We worry about the “what if’s”, the “do I’s”, and the “should I’s.”

But God does. And as long as we surrender it all to Him and trust in Him, we can be certain that He already made provisions for whatever we will need when we get to that place.

I took a deep breath, turned my music up and decided to keep running forward instead of turning back. My body shook like a leaf inside, but my spirit was strong.

As soon as I reached the next curve the trees stopped holding hands, inviting the sunlight and breeze back in.

I looked ahead and noticed wooden fences on both sides of the road. It was the entrance to the small neighborhood that connected to ours.

I laughed out loud and thanked God for that precious picture from heaven.

However, I wasn’t so sure that my husband would find my experience as funny as I did, so I decided to keep this one between the Lord and I.