Today is National NASCAR Day. Though I’m not an avid fan of NASCAR, I feel like I’m living on a racetrack right now. We live on a major highway – well we don’t physically live on the highway, but lately it’s felt pretty much like we do. Construction has been under way for two years now and we are right in the middle of it. I’ve talked about the urgency to accommodate the department of transportation whenever we get a letter from them. In fact, we have had to call on our kids to take care of our needs, only having to wait at least another few weeks, if not months, for any apparent progress on the racetrack in our backyard.

In the meantime, many of my beautiful plants are popping up where a new sound barrier will eventually act as a backdrop. So, there is that. Even in the din of pounding drills, heavy construction equipment and whizzing cars speeding in excess of the speed limit – there is beauty. God’s creation changes everything. We might get weighed down by the oppression of change. We feel we must depend on others to help us. We get depressed when simple tasks become impossible because of limitations on our bodies. We feel guilty when we have to ask for help. We put pressure on ourselves and look ahead to eventual change and moving someplace where all those difficult tasks will be taken care of.

I’m not very good when it comes to change. I manage to stuff all of those things into the back of my mind and continue on trying to forget about them. Maybe this is one of the perils of growing older, but it isn’t uncommon to feel those pressures at any age. I personally hold it all inside and then it comes out in a big explosion of tears, frustration, angry words and even stressed relationships. How do we handle these life changes? If you’re a real adventurer, you’ll stick it out and be perseverant – pressing on for the eternal prize. If you’re just getting started in the journey, you may be reluctant to take risks. You might succumb to the pressures in life and fall into depression. When you reach those middle years – when everything is supposed to be smooth sailing – the bottom might fall out and you have to go back to square one. As long as your body lets you, you can stay the course and continue.

There is another solution, which is often overlooked by most of us. Instead of trusting in our own actions, goals, aging bodies and work ethic that includes hard work and dedication – maybe we should turn our eyes towards heaven and trust in the One who offers to carry us through anything. Still, we struggle by trying to fix things ourselves. Eventually, we will die. There will be no more problems – no tears – no frustration – no physical pain – only peace and complete satisfaction. Let it go. Run the race while you’re living and trust that God will take care of the big stuff. Then we can make it to the finish line without regret, fear, danger – only perfection.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1