Run with perseverance...

Hebrews 12:1 is one of my favorite passages in the Bible.  It is one of those passages which gives me something different each time I read it.  It uplifts, inspires, challenges and confuses in equal measure.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us."

I have been thinking about that passage since it was read in church this past weekend.  They are powerful words, especially when put into the context of what comes directly before it.

Faith is believing in something that you cannot prove, see, or touch.  God has promised us much, and sometimes it feels like those promises are out of reach, especially when in the midst of turmoil or major life stress.  Although we are fortunate in the United States to have the freedom to believe without the fear of repression, there are many in this world who do not have the same right to a life without fear.

This passage is assurance to all who suffer through faith.  Each and every person who stands on the love of God to make decisions about what is right, even if it results in consequences no one wants to suffer, including torture and death, is known, not only to God, but to all those who have sacrificed the same way before.

Those witnesses, generations of watchers in heaven, know our pain, understand our sorrow, have felt our fears.  They stand with us, giving us assurance that there is something better just ahead, no matter how this life tests and challenges us.  What a gift, to know that we are supported and uplifted by those who have suffered likewise.  I think it is the reason most people focus on the witnesses.  It is comforting to know we are not alone in this journey.

But this time, something else caught my attention.  A Christian knows that a life of faith is not a guarantee of an easy time.  We cannot coast through life, waiting for good times to happen.  Something is required of us - something big, something difficult, something all encompassing.

We must make a choice each moment to live our lives as Jesus taught us, to lay aside our sinful natures, our willful determination, our insistence on doing it our way.  And then this passage goes even further.  We must also persevere and run our own race, all the way to the finish line.  No one can do it for us, and if we give up too soon, we will not end up where we are supposed to be.  God has a plan, and it doesn't involve quitting.  If we truly wish to follow Jesus, we have to endure, persist, finish.

It is not easy to persevere, especially when times are hard, and doubt is tempting us.  We falter, stumble, even fall, forgetting that God is the ultimate safety net.  It is in those low moments of failure, in fact, where danger looms largest.  It is too easy to give up, to relinquish our faith for doubt, to question God's plan for our future as we struggle in the present.

But as we read this passage again, it becomes clear that the witnesses are watching everything, and know, from their own experience, what we do not - the promises of God are ever faithful, and in not receiving our immediate earthly expectation, we are building up the promises of heaven.

We live in a here and now world.  We want instant access, a constant stream of information, everything available at a moment's notice right at our fingertips.  But God has the eternal perspective, and his view is everlasting.  Our momentary discomforts are nothing compared to eternity, and God's plan is for all time.

We are not alone; not in life, not in troubles, not in temptation.  Jesus showed us what living a life of faith looks like, and it is not always easy.  But if we persevere, one day we will join that great cloud of witnesses in eternal life with God, watching over generations to come.