I was never very athletic, but when I was a kid, I always wanted to be an athlete. That is probably because the girls on my high school campus liked athletes, especially the guys who were on the football team.
Although I’m not a real athlete, I know people who are, and they’re very committed. I read that the average Olympic athlete works out four hours a day, 310 days a year, for six years to compete for the gold. Now that is commitment.
In the New Testament book of Hebrews we read, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1 NKJV).
The word used for endurance in this verse is the Greek word hupomone. It is a word that means “perseverance,” “endurance,” “steadfastness,” or “staying power.” This is a steady determination to keep going, because sometimes in the race of life, it is difficult. You’re a little bit tired. Or maybe you’re really tired. Sometimes we start off with a burst of energy, but then we start slowing down. Some even abandon the race altogether.
Years ago I went out on a bike ride with my wife. She’s very good on road bikes, and I wanted to ride with her. For our first ride, we were going about 20 miles away. I was so full of energy that I passed everyone. I was well in the lead and thought, “This is so easy. Why do people say it’s hard?” But then we reached our destination. I was exhausted. It was so bad that one of the people in our group had to push me on my bike. That was humiliating. Sometimes we start with a great burst of energy, but we can’t finish. We need endurance.
Where do we get it? The answer is found in James 1: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (verses 2–4 NIV).
There’s that word hupomone again. The testing of your faith produces that strength, hupomone. It’s sort of like going to the gym. You tear your muscle down to build your muscle up. Sometimes someone might add more weight to whatever you’re lifting. You don’t think you can do it, but they say, “You can go higher. Lower your reps if you need to, but you can go higher.”
Then you find you can do it. And then you move up again. In the same way, God will put weights in our lives. We say, “I don’t want these weights. I don’t want this problem.” But if you want to be strong, then you will go through trials. When you go through trials, you get stronger.
When we are first introduced to Joseph in the Old Testament, he is a somewhat pampered young man. But then Joseph went through a lot of adversity, including being sold into slavery by his brothers and being sent to prison after a false accusation of rape. But when Joseph was in prison, iron entered his soul.
The writer of Hebrews continues, “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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (12:2 NKJV).
Athletes in the ancient Olympic games would compete for a laurel wreath from the emperor. The idea being conveyed in Hebrews 12:2 is that you’re running the last lap of the race, and you’re exhausted. You don’t feel like you can go another foot, but in the distance you can see the emperor standing there, holding the laurel leaves that will be placed on your head as you’re declared the winner.
That is why the apostle Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7–8 NKJV).
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We’re running this race for him. He is the one we seek to honor each and every day. So we don’t run this race of life for applause. We don’t do it for notoriety or fame. We do it so we can stand before Jesus one day and hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.”
So look to Jesus. Don’t look to circumstances. Don’t look to people, because people will disappoint. Press on. Trials are like God’s gym, where he makes us stronger.
Maybe you’re going through a hardship right now, and it makes no sense to you. You wish it would go away. But God is toughening you up. He’s giving you the steadfastness you will need, because he is getting you ready for something that is yet to come.
Corrie ten Boom once said, “If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. If you look within, you’ll be depressed. But if you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest!” She knew what she was talking about. She had been sent to a Nazi concentration camp for hiding Jewish people in her home during World War II. She lost her father and sister at Ravensbrück. Yet she kept her eyes on Jesus, and that kept her going. And it will keep us going as well.
You will start to fade in the race when you take your eyes off the Lord and put them on people, on the church, on circumstances, or on other things. Take your eyes off all that and look at Jesus. He will never fail you. He will never let you down. And he will keep you running in the race of life.
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