The pattern of faith we picked up in studying Hebrews, is that we start off walking with God. Somehow, somewhere we realize we are walking along with our Father, who gives us a race to run. For me that was in 1990 in an attorney's office. Weird, I know, but God can find you anywhere. We all hit struggles as we run this race. Sometimes the struggles are results of decisions we made or didn't make. Sometimes struggles just seem to drop out of nowhere. When we run the race well, we look through these struggles with eyes of faith at our savior. He came to Earth and struggled too. We look to Him to see how to endure this struggle. If we are still running well we obey. We may not know what we are getting into, but we trust and we do. If we are faithful still, we thank God. We thank Him that we are still in the race and that He never lets us run alone. I have had some hard times being thankful for ugly things, but believe me, it can be done.
Of course we don't always run well. Hebrews doesn't give us examples of guys who ran every race without a major face plant. The interesting thing about the cloud of witnesses they give examples of, is that they were a nutty bunch of characters. They tried some short cuts. They tripped up at key moments. They finished with not a whole lot left at the finish line. Just like us! Those guys are now in the stands cheering us on. As a track mom, I can tell you that you see a little extra kick in the home stretch when the crowd gets going. We have that! The crowd is there when I want to give it up and do something easier. They know how I feel. If I can hear those cheers with my ears of faith, I can pick up the pace or at least finish the lap.
At this moment, in my race things are pretty comfortable. I need to lean into picking up knees and pushing myself a little harder. I definitely need to be looking around the course to see who needs some encouragement. I know my daughter needs me to keep telling her she can do this. Duncan needs us screaming in his ear, that he can take one more step. My college kids need to take the hill, not knowing what is going to come after that. My high schoolers need to keep up the pace and not get distracted. There are lots of things that can trip them up right now, and I need to shout out some warnings. I have lots of friends who are carrying heavy loads. I need to get alongside and help for a stretch. I know I will hit a wall before I know it, and I will be the one needing the encouragement.
I think the hardest thing for me, is to keep my eyes on Jesus. I am so, easily, distracted. Facebook, laundry, people's needs, politics, constant food needs, can keep me looking at my feet. I need to run like Jesus is in front of me and no one else matters. Whatever hill he tells me to climb, I need to go. My life needs to be about him, and what he gives me. My big stumbling blocks, are pride and distraction. I think I have this, and I can do it all by myself. It's a lie. I need people. I need my husband, my pastor, my friends, my mom, and everyone else that God can pack the stadium with. Or I get so distracted by the crowd I forget I need to be running. There is a reason I am here, what is that again?
Obviously the book of Hebrews is about Jesus. How do I follow Him when there is so much suffering all around me? I study His word. I pray. I stay tight and present with friends who encourage me. I praise God and thank Him for every single day. I look to Him when I realize that my run is getting too hard, or seems to be going nowhere. I remember that the crowd cheering me on, is full of interesting characters, so they aren't going to boo me when I'm off. Life is hard. God is good. I am thankful for another day on the race course.
