What is it like to be called by God?

Do you hear a voice? Is there thunder and lightning? A burning bush? Something dramatic like in the movies? Or, a whisper? I don’t think everybody’s experience is the same. The following is the experience I had, when I was at my rock bottom and I believe I was Called by God.

 

I was middle-aged; 44 to be exact. Had only been a Believer for a few years and a true neophyte in my Faith journey. I was a regular church-goer and had participated in a mission trip to Central Mexico. Other things were taking place in my life which made this a less than optimal time to have an encounter with the Almighty One. I have a degenerative eye condition, and it had deteriorated to a point where I had to make the difficult decision to stop driving. Actually, the decision was made for me as I almost had an accident with some pedestrians, and I couldn’t be sure whether it was as a result of my deteriorated eyesight. I felt a duty to assume my lack of eyesight was the culprit of the “almost accident”, and I stopped driving immediately. I was divorced with 3 children who depended on me. I was also unemployed, and I received a letter from the government stating that I was “permanently and totally disabled.” 

 

The confluence of all these circumstances percolated and it wasn’t long before I found myself in a deep depression. I was struggling to make it through each day, was non-responsive to friends who were reaching out, and failed to care for myself and children. I had to find something to do to get myself out of bed, so I asked to volunteer at a homeless shelter. I always felt better when I served others, and I hoped this act of service might help to halt the progression of the depression, or in the very least give a momentary reprieve.

 

It was a mid-week day and my volunteer shift extended from 10 am to noon. I was in charge of managing showers and laundry for the day. In a two-hour time period, the shelter would offer showers and laundry on a first-come, first-serve basis to the city’s homeless population.  At 10 am, the doors would open and a surge of humanity would suddenly be standing before me. I held a clipboard. A mighty artifact that presumed to give me power. I scribed the names of people in line one by one, until there were no more people in line. Then, I admitted two people into separate shower rooms and helped others start their laundry, ensuring the machine was not overloaded, and maximized at the same time. While I waited for the first set of “clients” to finish their showers and the first load of laundry to finish cycling, I checked my clipboard for the next name on the list.

 

And, that is when it happened…….

 

I was standing in a small hallway, facing East, holding a clipboard, listening to a person singing in the shower, the whir of a laundry machine, a host of volunteers in the galley kitchen making food for breakfast, and our clients talking about all shades of life.

 

The volume of the ambient noise slowly silenced to nothing, although it seemed as if my visual, tactile and olfactory senses remained intact. The lessening volume was imperceptible at first, then it was pervasive. It was at that moment a thought was put into me,

 

I am running across America

 

I was still. Then, the sound of the environment came back as quickly as it had eroded. I felt scared. My knees shook. I steadied myself by reaching for the wall. I remember asking myself, “Did that just happen?” I knew what just happened was real. I knew I was the only one who perceived it. I also knew I could choose to ignore it, tell nobody, act like it never happened, finish my shift and go back to my house and continue on in my depression. Or, I could choose to respond in the affirmative, be obedient and submit all my desires and life to the will of another.

 

I chose the latter, and knowing the feeble human that I am I believed I had to tell one other person to hold myself accountable. I texted my Mom, “I am going to run across America.” Within 30 seconds, Mom texted back, “I’m in.”

 

I never had a desire to run across America. I was unemployed and didn’t have the money to prepare for and undertake such an expedition. Oh wait, I didn’t think I was physically capable of running across the United States, although I would never speak this to another person. Three young children depended on me, and lived with me half of the time. And, I was severely depressed and in no state to cross the United States on foot. 

It's impossible! It can't happen! Not with me. I’m a nobody. I’m a depressed, unemployed, blind person who is a failure.

 

What I learned over the next 20 months is the following:

 

 "With God all things are possible." 

– Matthew 19:26

 

"God does not call the qualified. He qualifies the Called." 

– 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

 

Light overcomes dark. Good overcomes evil. 

Love wins. God wins.

 

For 18 months I trained my body, begged for money from strangers, family and friends, raised my kids and figured out the logistics of the expedition. For 59.5 days I ran 3,063 miles from Los Angeles to New York City averaging 51.5 miles/day to fulfill a Calling that I neither understood nor agreed with, but I obeyed.

 

For a long time, I did not speak openly about the fact that the Transcontinental Run was a Calling from God. I thought people would think I was insane or crazy. I already felt like a lot of people thought I was insane and crazy for setting out to run across the United States. Just add that I believed God told me to do the feat, and I figured I had bought myself a one-way ticket to the looney bin.

 

With a healthy amount of time and reflection, I now realize that it is insane and crazy to think that I could have taken on such a challenge, survived it, and completed it at such a pace without God’s Calling and protection.

 

First – I was in a severe depression. Depressed people don’t just snap their fingers and decide with conviction and motivation to take on a seemingly impossible goal. The depression was severe with very dark thoughts. None of the triggering factors had improved – sight loss, unemployment, stopping diving and being a single parent. However, on the day of my Calling, the depression and its causes seemed to have no effect on my ability to make a 180-degree behavioral change and suddenly start a 20-month expedition into the unknown.

 

Second – it was beyond my physical abilities. I had ran some marathons and ultramarathons, but nothing compared to what I was going to attempt. My goal was to run 50 or more miles a day. As I later learned, that pace is World Class. At the time, only 6 other people had crossed the United States at 50 miles per day or more, and no blind person had attempted it. I had been depressed and was not running. I wasn’t a sponsored athlete, hadn’t won any races and a true mid-pack runner. If my body could withstand what I was envisioning, it would truly be a “Cinderella-story”, and I always root for the underdog.

 

Third – it would be a miracle to survive the training and transcontinental run with my limited eyesight.  At this writing, I’ve been hit about 40 times by vehicles, scooters and bicycles while on foot. People have died crossing the US on foot, and I would be attempting to do this with my tunnel vision, 20/200 visual acuity, and night blindness. I had never ran on highways or interstates where vehicles regularly travel 75 mph and faster. Up to that point, I had never ran directly at a semi-truck travelling 75 mph and passed one another with just a few feet between us. Somehow, I survived all the miles with close calls, and some collisions. I know I was protected by God. Otherwise, I would not be here to type these words that you are reading.

 

Getting back to the topic of this writing, I want people to know that God does in fact Call us to do many things, of many different magnitudes, in many different ways. Our Callings do not need to be known or witnessed by others to be real. God’s work is mysterious at times. Sometimes, I feel an urge to speak to a person, or to pick up a piece of litter, or do a nice gesture for another. And, one time I was Called to run across the US. God is with us and communicates with us on the regular. It is our job to listen intently and embrace God’s Call. Regardless of the magnitude or frequency of His Callings, rest assured that God is always in our lives. God is always on our side, and wanting us to do His will – to Love Him and Love one another. 

 

Sometimes people ask me if I would run across the United States again, and my response is,

 

Absolutely not if it is my own choice; but, if God Called me to do it again, you would barely see me turn and start running this instant! 

Jason is an Author, Expert and Speaker on Adversity, Resilience, Success. He holds more than 10 World Records in extreme endurance athletics, is a national marathon champion, Paralympian, subject of a documentary film (Running Vision), CEO, attorney and non-profit founder. He is best known for logging a top-10 highest mileage per day crossing of the United States - 51.5 miles/day | 3,063 miles | 59.5 days. Jason has Retinitis Pigmentosa and is legally blind.

jasonromero.net