"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and rescue you." Isaiah 46:4 (NIV)
Hebrews 12:1-3
Sports are a major part of American culture. It dominates many people's thinking, influences their schedules, draws their money, and fuels their pleasure. In fact, sports have been valued by societies since ancient times. New Testament writers integrated sport metaphors into their letters to make a spiritual point, as the author of Hebrews did in today's passage.
The key to running the race of life well is found in the first verse: endurance. You may be one of those people who started well - you had lots of dreams and ideas about what you wanted to accomplish. Yet perhaps somewhere along the way, you faced tragedy, setback, or failure. As a result, you took your eyes off the running path and away from those dreams. Now you've strayed from the path and concluded you will not be able to find your way back. You have chosen not to end well.
God has a path for each of us. And along that trail are weaknesses, pain, and disappointments. But these things must not defeat us. The difference between people who finish their life race well and others who do not is endurance. Those who end well refuse to give up, in spite of any adversity threatening to blow them off their God-given course.
Endurance does not mean sitting back and look for the easy way out of hardship. Instead, it means deciding to put our faces to the wind and use the energy granted by the Holy Spirit to persevere through the rough patch. To endure is the only way to finish our race successfully.
What lies behind you and lies ahead of you are tiny matters compared to what lies within you.
Good running!
Lady G
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