Running on a Healed Heart

 

"I just want to finish." My grandson told my daughter and son-in-law as he prepared to run his first 5K since he had his open heart surgery last November. (see November 20, 2024 post)

It was a year ago, on that very course, that he was unable to complete even a mile of his first cross-country race of his sophomore year. It was a huge jamboree, and he was forced to sit on the side of the course due to chest pains, where his father found him after every other racer had crossed the finish line.

What followed was a year-long journey of tests, discovery, surgery, and recovery. 

Evan loves to run. He discovered this when he played soccer as a young boy. When he learned that there was a sport that entailed just the running part, he decided he was all-in. I thought he was crazy, but he couldn't wait until he was old enough to run on the cross-country team. 

On one of the pre-op visits, as the surgeon was explaining the issues with his heart and what he would do to fix it, Evan asked if he would be able to run again. The doctor assured him he would, and would be better than before. 

After his surgery, Evan was given the parameters for his recovery and was discouraged to learn how long it would be before he could once again run. To a fifteen-year-old, nine months to a full year is a significant portion of their life. It was daunting. The family would need to rally and uplift him.

Nine months have passed since the surgery, and Evan has begun to run. Slower than his previous pace, but he finished. His heart is healed, and his body is healing from the extreme measures the surgeon put it through in order to correct the defects that were discovered. But Evan is moving forward and returning to the things he loves with joy.

That is called healing. And it is a process. It was long, painful, and required patience and obedience to get there.

Evan could have stayed an invalid, had he chosen. Remained a recovering heart surgery patient for the rest of his life. If he lived in fear of hurting himself, he would never have felt the joy of the thing he loves so much. 

We know, however, that would have been ridiculous. He is a healthy sixteen-year-old with his whole life to live. He is healed and ready to thrive and grow and live. 

But we, as children of God, virtually do this all the time. God has offered us healing through His Son Jesus Christ. Forgiveness of our sins, which comes with cleansing. He left us the Holy Spirit to fill us and keep us. The peace of God, which passes human comprehension, is ours to hold on to, yet we let anxiety and stress rule our lives.

Romans 15:13. May the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So often, rather than accept the healing and power of God, we spend our lives reflecting on our injuries, our wounds, our frailties, and miss out on the joy and love of the life He has for us.

God heals our broken hearts. He holds the broken pieces in His hands. He restores them and gives us a new heart. Do we sit, frightened, broken, or do we move forward embracing this new heart and live a life of joy, hope and power?

"...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." Hebrews 12:1