Trust the Plan: What My Worst Half Marathon Taught Me About Faith

The very first time I ran a half marathon, it was a disaster.

My sister invited me to run one with her in my younger and dumber years. I had run a couple of 5K races up to that point and figured it would just be a couple of them at a time stacked together. 5Ks and 10Ks were easy, so adding a few more miles onto a race would be easy.

So for the next few months, I ran 3-4 times a week, aimless, without really a plan or any care in the world. I had nothing guiding me in my pursuit.

And then race day came. I had spent the night before wide awake, having one too many bourbons with some friends, crashing on a literal army cot in a bedroom for 3 hours, and then chugging a whole raft of coffee on the way to race.

No breakfast. No gels. No water. No plan.

Oh. And it was raining.

I made it to about mile 8, where I hit the wall. Actually, I take that back. The wall hit me. Hard.

I made it to the finish line walking, stumbling, and cursing.

After that disaster, I did what any reasonable person would do: I found a real training plan.

Not "run when you feel like it." An actual 12-week plan. Someone who knew what they were doing.

And it worked. Week by week, I got stronger. Because I trusted the plan.

I think a lot of the time, we approach our lives (both spiritual and otherwise) like I did that first half marathon: just YOLO-ing it. No plan. No preparation. No sustenance.

But God's actually GOT a plan for us. He's got some stuff written out for us already. Paul wrote about it to the church in Philippi:

"…being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6 NIV)

Read that again. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.

God's not winging it. He's not making it up as He goes. He's not standing at the starting line wondering if you'll make it to mile 8.

He started the work. He's got the plan. And He will finish it.

Paul's making a specific promise: God started working in you. And He will not let you quit halfway.

He's got a plan for you. A long one. And He's sticking to it.

But we're always going to hit the wall.

Maybe it's suffering you weren't ready for. Maybe it's temptation you can't shake. A crisis of faith you didn't see coming.

And you're stumbling, cramping, wondering why this is so hard.

Here's the truth: God has a training plan for you.

Not a random assortment of good days and bad days. Not a vague sense of "just try harder." A deliberate, progressive, long-term plan designed to make you more like Jesus.

But it takes time. Months. Years. A lifetime.

The next time I trained, I followed an actual plan. Week 1 felt too easy. Week 3 felt boring. Week 6 felt impossible.

But Week 12? I crushed it.

Not because I suddenly got better. Because the plan built me slowly, progressively, over time.

God's doing the same thing with you.

You're not behind. You're not failing. You're in the middle of a long-term plan designed by the God of the universe who has been perfecting people for thousands of years.

He knows what He's doing. Even when you can't see it yet.

This week, I want you to stop judging your spiritual growth by how today felt.

Instead, ask yourself this: What has God been building in me over the past year?

Not the past week. Not the past month. The past year.

Maybe you're more patient with your kids than you were 12 months ago. Maybe you forgive your spouse faster. Maybe you actually want to pray instead of feeling like you have to. Maybe you notice when someone's hurting instead of just walking past. Maybe you care about people you used to ignore.

That's the plan working. That's progress.

You might not feel different today than you did yesterday. But you're not the same person you were a year ago. And you won't be the same person a year from now.

That's how training plans work. One day doesn't make you faster. One workout doesn't transform your fitness. But 12 weeks of showing up? That changes everything.

God's plan is the same. He's not asking you to be perfect today. He's asking you to trust the process. To keep showing up. To let the long game play out.

When you're frustrated with your lack of progress, when you're tired of fighting the same battles, when you're wondering if anything is actually changing—remember:

You're not in Week 12 yet. You're in the middle. And the middle always feels slow.

But God started the work. And He will finish it.

Trust the plan.

The next time you're staring at your life (or your marathon or lifting plan) wondering if anything is actually changing, remember that winging it doesn't work.

Showing up unprepared, running without a plan, expecting good intentions to carry you through?

That gets you to mile 8, stumbling and cursing.

But trusting a plan designed by someone who knows what they're doing? That gets you to the finish line.

God's got you. He started the work. He's not bailing halfway through just because Week 3 feels hard or Week 6 feels slow.

He will finish what He started.

You just have to trust the plan.