Run the Race - Part 3

Often in life we can have great intentions to be positive, productive and achieve great things, but so often life throws challenges at us which slow us down and make it difficult to achieve all the things we want to.  It can be easy to get discouraged and think there is no point.  At the end of my last post I talked about how we can keep our motivation, how we can persist despite the challenges.  In this post I want to expand on that a bit.  Going back to the passage I have been working through, Hebrews 12:1-3 says:

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

 

So how do we keep going?  We look to Jesus and the example he set us.  Jesus faced opposition from day 1.  Even as a baby he was targeted (see Matthew 2:13-18).  Throughout his ministry he was challenged and attacked, it seemed like the more good work he did the more people came after him, and often it can feel the same for us.  It can feel like the harder we work the more we get challenged.  The more determined we get to do the right things, like eat healthy and exercise, the more life seems to try and stop us with sickness, busyness or other difficulties.  But this is when it’s most important to push through.  Have a look again at the passage from the second part of verse 2 onwards:

For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Jesus’s primary focus was not on the challenges he faced, but on the final outcome.  He knew that no matter how hard things got, the outcome would be worth it.  He knew that by tackling the difficulties he faced each day, he would achieve victory.  There must have been times in his life when it all seemed too much, but he kept going, he refused to be stopped.  And we need to do the same thing.  It is important not to give up when life gets tough, strength can only be built through challenge.  One of my favourite quotes is “a challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow to it”.  So we need to keep our heads up, our focus on the goal and keep moving.  From our biggest challenges come our biggest victories and our biggest growth, what an awesome motivation to keep going!  When we do this, when we focus on the goal, the challenge suddenly becomes less of an issue because we can see through it; we know that it is only a temporary step on the path to victory.

So where does that leave us?  The encouragement to "run the race" is something we can all apply to our lives.  It is a calling to try and be the best we can be.  It's a calling to try each day to do better than the day before.  It means that we stay focussed on our goals, not allowing ourselves to get caught in unhealthy things which can slow us down.  It means that when we get discouraged or times get tough we persist in the knowledge that we will overcome the obstacles and enjoy the successes.  It gives us a purpose, a drive to motivate us to continually improve and not give up, to get up each day and live with determination and positivity.  And when we when we do this, when we run the race, we are able to push through challenges and enjoy the victories that follow!