Finish Line

Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When my son, Kevin, was in high school, he joined the cross country team. We lived in the hill country and practice often meant running in the hills…sometimes this meant going sideways up and down a steep slope to build muscles in the legs and endurance. They ran in the heat and in the rain and bitter cold. I’ve seen the runners finally cross the finish line and fall to the ground or walk to the side and throw up.

At some point in his senior year Kevin’s left leg was injured and he suffered a great deal of pain. The doctor told him his cross country days were over for the year, no more running. The school team was in the finals and the thought of not finishing out the season was not something he would even consider. He ran the last meet injured and in agony. I had begged him to not run but he said, “Mom, my team is in the finals, I am part of the team. I cannot let them down.” So he ran.

My son finished dead last in the race far behind the people in front of him but he ran and finished the race. I was aching for him because I knew the pain he suffered. I stood with the other parents, kids and couches by the finish line clapping and cheering him on. I was so proud I thought my heart would burst in my chest. That day, Kevin showed me the man he was inside.

There are times in our lives when we feel like we just can't continue in the race. These are precisely the times when the enemy loves to assault us to the point of breaking and torment us saying "You'll never make it to the finish line, you may as well just quit now". I imagine Kevin reached that point many steps of the way in that race. Yet he endured.

We all fall down in our personal races of life. We all ‘hit the wall’ where we feel we have nothing else to give, we are spent, out of all energy to push on and motivation and desire to finish seem like a distant memory. There are stretches where we don’t even know why we started the race in the race in the first place. We stumble in desperation and sin mounts us as if we were a pony on the merry-go-round. We know we are incapable of making it on our own. And this is where and when the Lord can strengthen and use us most of all.

Paul said, "Let us not grow weary in well doing for in due season we shall reap if we do not faint". When you are on Team Jesus, you never run alone. You have His strength and power and grace and mercy to hold you up, to move you forward and to help you cross the finish line.

Let's allow God's wonderful promises to strengthen and comfort us in each circumstance so that we can run the race — to run together, side by side —with Him!