Are We There Yet?

Therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

- Hebrews 12:1 -

In this life, I’m more inclined to desire sprints as opposed to marathons when it comes to trials and suffering. I don’t want unpleasant things to stick around for a lifetime, nobody does. But we don’t exactly get to choose that do we? The level of suffering that we are called to endure is not up to us and, oftentimes, we just want it to end already so we can get back to enjoying what this world has to offer without the hindrances of tribulation and limitations.

That then begs the question, why would a loving God call us to struggle through this life? After all, some people appear to cruise on through in their topless convertibles and giant houses, rolling in money like Scrooge McDuck and lacking in any real depth of pain. How the heck is that fair?

Now, let me be clear. I’m not implying everyone who has been blessed with nice things is somehow avoiding suffering or that they are not a child of God simply because they are gifted with a different lifestyle. People of wealth have their own set of expectation - the second part of Luke 12:48 says “. . . Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand more.” If you are given a healthy financial situation in this life, you have a responsibility to use that abundance to further the kingdom of God. This is a challenge in and of itself as our human nature is to satisfy our own personal desires. By the same argument, if you are given an abundance of suffering in this life, that, too, requires its own set of expectations whereby we use it solely to bring honor to the King instead of gravitating toward the temptation of achieving self-pity.

So let’s break this down a bit, shall we? The verse begins by mentioning the fact that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. We are not called to suffer in silence. If we do, our suffering is either unseen and wasted or seen despite our best efforts to hide it, and we are viewed as a fraud. We are called to suffer well. If we bear our burdens with both honesty and raw faith, we can create a testimony that is unmatched. God is magnified through our moments of pain when we endure them with a focus on His ability to meet our needs in the midst of the chaos.

While we run our race out loud, we are also called to do something very logical. We are instructed to get rid of every weight and sin that slows us down. You wouldn’t run a 5K with a backpack full of lead, right? Anything that causes us to take our eyes off of the goal of glorifying Christ, whether it be an innocent distraction (weight) or an intentional idol (sin), becomes a hindrance and needs to be thrown off the track. This is for our good, too, by the way. It lightens our load and eases our strain as we navigate the tough stuff. Trials are hard enough on their own. The last thing we need is the weight of a bad habit, a draining relationship, or an obsessive diversion to add to our total number of steps or to take us a mile out of our way.

So, now that we’ve committed to visibility for God’s glory and we do our best to die to ourselves daily in order to shed excess weight, we can begin to wrap our brains around the concept of endurance. This is where the marathon is distinguished from the sprint. We’ll have sprints in our lives, too - we’ll get the flu, we’ll go through a breakup, our car will break down, we’ll lose our job and be left to search for a new one. Sometimes our marathon is made up of a combination of these sprints throughout our lifetime. Sometimes our marathon is truly a marathon. Maybe you’ve lost a loved one and their absence will sting your soul until you are reunited in Heaven, maybe you are struck down with a chronic illness and you’ll never experience healing until the day you enter eternity, maybe you feel an unavoidable call on your life to uproot your family and commit to fulltime professional ministry in a third-world country instead of fulfilling your desired personal career goals, or maybe you were left with the wounds of abuse or neglect that will hopefully heal in time but will definitely leave a permanent scar.

This list could go on and these scenarios require spiritual grit to make it through. These types of marathons take all we have. We get winded, the pain in our side pulsates and stabs as we wonder how in the world we can take one more step without collapsing. This is where the example of Jesus comes in. Look to Him. He founded and perfected our faith in His life here on earth and He will be our inspiration to make it across the finish line. Jesus dedicated His life to ministry instead of pursuing a path of comfort and financial success. He faced a lot of people who insulted Him and questioned His faith. He was sabotaged and betrayed by one of His closest friends. All of that paled in comparison to the humiliating, excruciating, and unfair torture Jesus experienced up until His moment of death on the cross. And, as if this wasn’t enough, even death itself brought with it the burden of every sin ever committed in the history of humanity and the unfathomable agony of the terror of hell. But He did it because He had the confidence of hope for joy in the end. That’s right, friends, no matter how devastating our time on earth might be, joy is our reward when the race is over.

So, are we there yet? Not yet. If we’re still breathing, we’re still serving a purpose with our lives. The moment our heart stops beating will be the moment we experience a pure joy that will be beyond earthly comprehension. Until then, let your light shine in the midst of your visible darkness so that others may see hope in your tear-filled eyes. Toss aside the things that don’t matter so you can stay dialed into the Provider of our strength, run the course with unhindered endurance and have faith that, just like our Savior, we are not running in vain. There’s a prize at the end that will trump any trophy, medal, or accolade we’ll ever receive here on earth. We will breakthrough that red tape with our hands held high, our heart will beat in unison with a God who will tell us ‘Well done!’ and our joy will finally be perfectly full. What a day that will be!