Running Mind

It's interesting the things that go through your head when you're running/walking.  A song came on the ol' iPod- "Show Me" by Audrey Assad.   I started to think about the finish line after my very first 5k last spring, and how I almost totally lost it.  I had no idea why I was struggling so hard to compose myself, but it occurred to me last night that it was because I felt...free.  Free from her, free from that body, free from past mistakes, free from a life not lived well, just...free.  God delivered me-no, helped me to be free from these things.  It occurs to me that we tend to think of God as a vending machine.  We put in our coin-like prayers and expect him to give us what we want.  Instead, we get what we need.  Help, not necessarily deliverance.  There is truth in that old saying: "God helps those who help themselves".