The Benefit of Having Been There

I'm preparing for the ING New York City Marathon next month, and while I've run more than my share of marathons, I've never done NYC. I hear the course is flat, but otherwise it's a mystery. I've always wanted to run there, it seems a compelling event run through every borough of an amazing city. As I get ready for any big race, preparation always entails both physical (training) and mental (knowledge). The two must go hand in hand. I've been physically well prepared for some races only to sabotage my effort on race day with a lack of understanding about the course or my competitors. Last week I called a good friend who has a few NYC's under his belt, and listened as he described every one of the 26.2 miles, which stretches were toughest, where to back off and conserve, and when to pick up the pace if I'm feeling good. His first-hand knowledge having already run the course, was invaluable, and I'm convinced it will serve me well on November 6th.

One of my good friends called this morning to seek my counsel on something that had nothing to do with running....he's going through a devastating personal challenge, identical in many ways to the one through which I've recently passed. He called me not only because we are friends, but because I've been there. I can relate. It's been said that the difference between sympathy and empathy is experience; it's easy to sympathize with the plights of others, but to empathize requires having felt the same pain, experienced the same doubts and fears, lived through the same desperation and desolation. The really cool thing about our God is that He's in the recycling business - He recycles our pain for other's gain. When my friend ran NYC for the first time, he had no idea he'd be helping me prepare to survive the same race years later. When you're in the middle of a marathon, you often can't see past that next mile. Thoughts of being out the other side are overwhelmed by the momentary pain and strain. Personal challenges can seem just as overwhelming. But having someone who has been there, who knows the course ahead, knows the depth of pain and suffering, and also knows that there IS another side, a finish line, is incredibly helpful. We have two choices when we've come out the other side of a painful life passage. We can keep it bottled up inside of us, hidden from others, as it eventually eats away at who we are and what we could have become, or we can allow God to use our experience to help someone else navigate their challenge. BELIEVE that there is a reason for everything that you've been or are going through.....and be willing to be used someday by God, for a purpose greater than yourself.