Lessons From Paradise
I was blessed to have visited Punta Cana at the Dominican Republic last week. It was a retreat for board members for the Atlantic Union Conference. I was even more blessed because I was allowed to bring a family member so I brought Matthew, my younger son. It was a precious time in many ways and I wanted to highlight some lessons I learned from this trip.
There was a beautiful beach near the hotel and I had the inspiration to jog while the sun was rising. I got dressed quietly in the room as I didn’t want to wake up Matthew and made my way to the beach. It was at the time of day when it was still dark but the light was quickly surfacing in the sky. Each step that I took me closer to my destination and with greater light. As I neared the beach, I saw signs of life awakening in the hotel. The restaurant lights were on as I saw the workers prepare the tables for the hungry people. There was a female worker sweeping the walkway to the beach.
As I got closer to the beach, I realized that there were some other people on the beach. There were workers that were cleaning up the debris on the sand preparing the day for the vacationers. There were also other tourists that were walking and taking pictures of the beach.
But within a few yards of the beach, I felt something on my face, some moisture. A few drops turned quickly to a shower. I saw the other tourists quickly running away from the beach towards the shelter of their warm and dry hotel rooms. I debated within myself, should I turn back to the room or should I press forward as I had planned? Do I really want to get soaked the first thing in the morning? Maybe I could just forget about running and enjoy watching the sunrise from the safety of my room. Who knows how long this rain would last? But while the thoughts to turn back flooded my mind, I was propelled forward with the thought that I don’t have chances like this often. So I decided to move forward with my plans and jogged on while the rain poured. Very soon I was soaked and I could barely see with my glasses getting wet. But I trudged on towards the end of the beach. My goal was a boat that looked like a pirate ship.
I pressed forward through the rain and I could barely make out the ship but I kept my eyes on the goal. It was actually my first time running on sand, it was a lot more difficult than running on the treadmill that I usually worked out on. With my thighs burning and my lungs heaving, and with the pouring rain, I was tempted to turn back many times. But I just kept my legs moving and my eyes on the goal.
I felt the rain lightening up sooner than I expected. As quickly as the storm had come in, it went out quickly as well. As the rain lifted the sky colors quickly brightened. Through the dark clouds, glimmers of light poked through the clouds, kissing them with the sun. It was a glorious sight. To actually witness this vision of the sunrise on the beach in Punta Cana was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. And to think I would have missed this if I had been deterred by the rain. What a shame that would have been.
In Hebrews 12:1-2, it says, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, 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, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Living this life has often been likened to a race in the Bible. It is an apt metaphor. There are obstacles that come our way, small and big ones that could bring you down. But when you focus on those circumstances and challenges, you will inevitably want to give up the race. But when we focus on our goal, looking unto Jesus, then we can move forward. We can have the endurance, we can have the strength, we can have victory when we look to Jesus. There’s nothing else that can help you win the race, you cannot do it on your own strength no matter how strong you think you are. But praise the Lord that we don’t have to run on our own strength. How good He is!
I pray that as we run this race that we call life, that we look unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He will never let us down. And soon we will run to Jesus and He will be even more beautiful than the sunrise at the beach at Punta Cana.