Last night I dreamed that I was running. Running every where. But the challenge truly came when I came upon a section where it was wet, muddy and had large puddles. I do not know about you but when I was a child this kind of meadow was a challenge. Especially in the winter. How many times did the run break through the ice or get me stuck in mud. I learned to “run light” and get across as quickly as possible. Looking behind me I could see where I had been. There is something about running lightly that challenged me then. The dream brought it all back.

It was not about about where I was running, but more importantly “how” I was running. When I was a child I was infatuated with certain types of shows and one of them involved Indians. I would watch how they would walk or run leaving no trace. I went to the library and studied them. My parents took me to lots of things that involved Indians and their practices. I studied them all, but mostly I probably studied their ability to leave not a trace. To move lightly over a landscape. (To this day a walk through the woods is to to move as quietly as I can.)

I awoke from a second dream but I could not let go of the first one. “Run lightly”. Too often we we run through life and get caught up in it because we have not learned to run lightly. What does that ? Even as I ran across a newly frozen pond or a wet area of meadow, I did not want to get wet or get my shoes or boots wet. I ran differently. I ran lightly. I think in this day and in this hour, we are being asked to move swiftly in some instances (Not with urgency, but because we can run and we need to get somewhere.)or to run lightly. We can not afford to be interrupted in where we need to get to. Why? Because as the Blues Brothers said, “we are on a mission from God”. It is not enough to “trim” down or to lose weight or the baggage of the past. We need to learn how to run. To not get waylaid or stuck in the running. It is a message of our freedom.

As a child I used to have friend David. He lived on top of a very steep and long hill. I would often stay there until it was nearly dark. I lived a few miles away. I would leave his home and run full tilt down the hill. For nearly a mile I would run as fast as I could. I felt like I could fly. I would push faster and faster until my momentum was so much I could not stop. At the bottom I would run onto Village Street (My friends in our fellowship will appreciate that!)and run until I neared our home. I would jump the pasture fence and careen through the meadow. Often it was wet or muddy but I would run lightly.

Isaiah 40:31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Maybe you got caught up in things. Perhaps you got stuck. Your “shoes” got muddy (Isaiah 52:7)or wet and you have not felt up to the task at hand. God is bringing restoration and renewal to your life. He wants you to run. He wants you to run lightly. To discard everything that would best you or hold you back. I just read this on a runner’s blog. “Learn to run lightly and quietly. Pounding is a sign that something’s wrong. You may be tired, not feeling well or simply not paying attention. Running lightly has nothing to do with how much you weigh: it has much more to do with attention (listening to yourself as you run) and intention (thinking ‘up’).”

Today is your day.

Isaiah 5: 26 He lifts up a banner for the distant nations, he whistles for those at the ends of the earth. Here they come, swiftly and speedily!

There is a new move of God that includes you. You have readied and prepared. You have thought you have missed it. I say this is your hour, this is your time.

Who is like the Lord? There is no one!