Taylor crawled out of his girlfriend’s car Sunday morning in a bit of pain. But he had a smile on his face because he had just completed a marathon in Atlanta, breaking the time goal he had set for himself. “Do you remember the words, ‘Run with perseverance the race marked out for you’?” he asked. “Dad, that verse just took on new meaning.”
We know ‘perseverance’ involves putting one foot in front of the other and never quitting, but I wonder if it also involves a certain type of belief. I talked to Taylor yesterday. “To finish that race, you had to believe you could do it, right?” He agreed. We know Peter sank because he took his eyes off Jesus, distracted by the wind and the waves surrounding him. But I imagine self doubt also crept in. “Why did I step out of the boat? I can’t do this!”
Our friend Scott Harsh just got a great report from the doctor. No cancer activity was found in his body. We praise God. I know exactly how Scott felt as he came to the end of three months of chemotherapy. “I don’t think I handle this last treatment.” But you press on… because you must. You’re persevering for your wife and kids more than you’re doing it for yourself. When the race seems far more brutal than a marathon, but it is the one you’ve been given to run, you remember: “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient” so we must believe and persevere.
But what if the end comes? What if the job is lost or the relationship is severed or death occurs? How do we persevere when there is no more hope? Surely we must follow Abraham’s example: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…” Believe God can still bring good… is this not what we’re called to do? Jesus even has the power over death. Is this not true? You know I am not being flippant about such matters. We all want to know: “How does God want me to think? How does God want me to live?” Sometimes I take the next step because I’m young, I’m healthy, I believe I can do it, and I hear my girlfriend cheering me on. Other times I take the next step because I simply know I must. Christ is with me… that’s his promise and he cannot lie. But there are occasions that seem utterly impossible. I’m not young; I’m not healthy; I don’t believe I can do it; I can’t feel Christ’s presence; I can’t remember his promises; and I don’t even see a next step. What now? God says, “Believe, my child. Hope in me. Wait on me. In the end you will not be disappointed.”
“Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:27-31
(I won’t be able to write the next couple of weeks. Susan and I are going to see our missionary friends in Namibia. Thanks for your prayers.)