Day 7: Not Fast, Just Furious
By: Rachel Tyson
Question: How do I keep living out my faith when all I really want to do is give up?
Bible Passage: Hebrews 12:1-2: "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 set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
Reflection: Two of my younger sisters and I recently completed a triathlon in Hokes Bluff, Alabama. Our team was appropriately named “Not Fast, Just Furious,” and bearing that in mind I volunteered to jog the 5K portion. While I jog regularly to maintain both my physical health and my sanity, to say I am a runner would be inaccurate. When I enter a race, my goal is never to win it but only to finish it, without walking or stopping if possible.
I’m not fast.
Neither, as it happens, are my sisters. We finished next-to-last overall but still managed first place in our category because we were the only women’s team. No one competed against us.
The writer of Hebrews, using word pictures to compare life to a race, is likewise unconcerned with speed. He exhorts his readers to “run with endurance,” not to come in first place. Finishing is winning, and in these two verses he gives a birds-eye view of what we need to bear in mind as we stay the course:
1. Remember that people are watching how you live your life, from your family to your fellow church members to your coworkers to the pizza delivery person. Hebrews 11 seems to indicate that departed saints are also witnessing our lives from the spiritual realm. You have an audience who on some level bears witness to all your successes and failures. Allow that knowledge to spur you to continue to make Christ-honoring choices every day.
2. Whatever is causing you unnecessary difficulty in living out your faith, get rid of it. Maybe it’s sin, maybe not, but it needs to go. In a race, runners carry nothing on their body that would slow them down or make the course any harder for them. We can do the same in a figurative sense. Repent of the sin. Delete the app. Turn off the podcast or television. Refuse to participate in the gossip. Stop hitting the snooze button. Reconcile with the impossible relative.
3. Keep doing the right, hard things no matter what. For all of us, that means practicing spiritual disciplines. For me it also means daily caring for my adult disabled son. For you it might mean working on a wrecked relationship or continuing in a less-than-ideal job to provide for your family. Our individual races are set before us by God and don’t necessarily look the same. The Greek word translated “endurance” in Hebrews 12:1 is usually translated “patience” and means “steadfastness” or “constancy.” These are all words for hard things; endurance isn’t necessary for easy or pleasant tasks, but only for difficult ones. We can do hard things, and keep on doing them, and this is who we are called to be as Christians.
4. Keeping Jesus in the front of your mind will give you perspective and help you endure. His Spirit will strengthen you when your own strength is gone. He endured the cross so that we can endure lesser trials — and we really can. Jesus finished his race and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. His race didn’t last forever, and neither will yours. Allow the hard things in your life to spur you to seek His help and guidance in prayer.
Prayer: Father, thank you so much your kindness. You are a good, good father and your love me so much, and I am grateful. I love you too, and I want to run the race you set before me well, with endurance, so that when it’s over I will hear you say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” In myself, I’m neither good nor faithful, but you have cleansed me by the blood of Jesus and you make all things possible. Please shine your light into any dark places in my heart and show me what is mine to do. Show me sin so that I may repent. Reveal not only the things that are hindering my spiritual progress and but also how I should deal with them. By your Spirit, give me the strength and grace to bring my thoughts and habits into alignment with your perfect will. It’s in the holy name of Jesus I ask all these things. Amen.
Question: How do I keep living out my faith when all I really want to do is give up?
Bible Passage: Hebrews 12:1-2: "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 set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."
Reflection: Two of my younger sisters and I recently completed a triathlon in Hokes Bluff, Alabama. Our team was appropriately named “Not Fast, Just Furious,” and bearing that in mind I volunteered to jog the 5K portion. While I jog regularly to maintain both my physical health and my sanity, to say I am a runner would be inaccurate. When I enter a race, my goal is never to win it but only to finish it, without walking or stopping if possible.
I’m not fast.
Neither, as it happens, are my sisters. We finished next-to-last overall but still managed first place in our category because we were the only women’s team. No one competed against us.
The writer of Hebrews, using word pictures to compare life to a race, is likewise unconcerned with speed. He exhorts his readers to “run with endurance,” not to come in first place. Finishing is winning, and in these two verses he gives a birds-eye view of what we need to bear in mind as we stay the course:
1. Remember that people are watching how you live your life, from your family to your fellow church members to your coworkers to the pizza delivery person. Hebrews 11 seems to indicate that departed saints are also witnessing our lives from the spiritual realm. You have an audience who on some level bears witness to all your successes and failures. Allow that knowledge to spur you to continue to make Christ-honoring choices every day.
2. Whatever is causing you unnecessary difficulty in living out your faith, get rid of it. Maybe it’s sin, maybe not, but it needs to go. In a race, runners carry nothing on their body that would slow them down or make the course any harder for them. We can do the same in a figurative sense. Repent of the sin. Delete the app. Turn off the podcast or television. Refuse to participate in the gossip. Stop hitting the snooze button. Reconcile with the impossible relative.
3. Keep doing the right, hard things no matter what. For all of us, that means practicing spiritual disciplines. For me it also means daily caring for my adult disabled son. For you it might mean working on a wrecked relationship or continuing in a less-than-ideal job to provide for your family. Our individual races are set before us by God and don’t necessarily look the same. The Greek word translated “endurance” in Hebrews 12:1 is usually translated “patience” and means “steadfastness” or “constancy.” These are all words for hard things; endurance isn’t necessary for easy or pleasant tasks, but only for difficult ones. We can do hard things, and keep on doing them, and this is who we are called to be as Christians.
4. Keeping Jesus in the front of your mind will give you perspective and help you endure. His Spirit will strengthen you when your own strength is gone. He endured the cross so that we can endure lesser trials — and we really can. Jesus finished his race and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. His race didn’t last forever, and neither will yours. Allow the hard things in your life to spur you to seek His help and guidance in prayer.
Prayer: Father, thank you so much your kindness. You are a good, good father and your love me so much, and I am grateful. I love you too, and I want to run the race you set before me well, with endurance, so that when it’s over I will hear you say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” In myself, I’m neither good nor faithful, but you have cleansed me by the blood of Jesus and you make all things possible. Please shine your light into any dark places in my heart and show me what is mine to do. Show me sin so that I may repent. Reveal not only the things that are hindering my spiritual progress and but also how I should deal with them. By your Spirit, give me the strength and grace to bring my thoughts and habits into alignment with your perfect will. It’s in the holy name of Jesus I ask all these things. Amen.
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