If we are going to run the race of life well we need to know the course. “Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who with the joy set before him, endured the cross, scorning at shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
At High School cross-country meets there is often more than one race. Usually there are junior varsity races for both boys and girls and varsity races for both boys and girls. The courses are not the same. It is important for the teams competing to walk the course before the race. They need to know which course they are running. You can’t run someone else’s course and win the race. During a meet I attended some of the lead runners in the boys’ varsity race took a wrong turn and began to follow the girls’ course. They ran quite a distance before they figured out that they’d gone the wrong way. In the end it cost them the race because they ran the wrong course.
Hebrews 12 reminds us that we need to run the right course. God has marked out a course for each of us. He has done this through the gifts and talents that he has given us as well as the circumstances of life we encounter. He desires for us to run the race that He has marked out for us. We get messed up when we start to run someone else’s race. We have all done this at different times in our lives. In High School the popular kids tend to be the athletes, so we try our best to be an athlete. We admire someone who is a great singer so we try to become a singer. We see a person excelling in business so we try to mimic what that person does. We may be mildly successful in our efforts, but most of the time they lead to frustration and discouragement. That’s because we are trying to run someone else’s race. God has a race marked out for each of us that we must discover, explore and pursue. Our personal race may take us in very different directions from those around us. But when we are running our race we can feel it. It feels right. We are energized and enthusiastic. It doesn’t mean that our race is always easy; it is not. It does mean that when we are running the race God has marked out for us we will feel fulfilled.
At times we will get discouraged. Even though we are following the right course there are rough stretches along the way. When those times come we need to run with perseverance. Perseverance means to run with energy, enthusiasm and endurance. One of the greatest temptations in any distance race is to stop and walk. Your legs grow heavy and your breathing gets labored. Your body screams out for you to stop running because it hurts too much to keep going. Every distance runner has experienced this. When you hit that point you have a decision to make. Will I give in or will I persevere? The great runners know that if they persevere they will get through the rough spots.
In the race of life there will be many rough spots. The temptation is to stop running. As followers of Christ we stop running when we start just going through the motions. We become spiritual zombies, doing the same things over and over, but there is no real life there. When we stop running the race we drain away the vitality that God desires for us. We most fully experience God’s grace when we give our whole-hearted effort to the race and persevere through the rough spots.
One of the best ways to run with perseverance is to follow the lead runner. I have discovered that when I am running a race I can draw strength from the other runners. I usually do my training runs alone. At times it is hard for me to push myself. In contrast, when I am running with a group of runners I am energized to push harder. I ran my first ½ marathon in 2010. The race organizers provided pace runners. Pace runners are skilled runners who are able to set a specific pace and maintain it for the whole race. If your goal is to finish the race in two hours you would follow the pace runner with the two hour sign. Following a pace runner not only keeps you on your desired pace, it energizes you to keep going.
Hebrews tells us to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the ultimate pace runner. Jesus is the one who designed the course. He knows it intimately. He has run the race before us and is uniquely qualified to lead us through our race. When we fix our eyes on Jesus we can run with joy. We can run with joy because Jesus has conquered sin and death. We can run with joy because Jesus didn’t give up on his race. Hebrews 12: 2 says for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorned the shame and sat down at the right hand of the Father. His race took him through some very difficult situations, but he ran with joy because he knew the course and kept his eyes on the goal.
The Living History Farms Race takes place the Saturday before Thanksgiving in Urbandale, Iowa. It has to be one of the craziest races in the country. Several thousand people dress up in all manner of costumes to run a 7-mile race through fields, streams and mud. For many of the participants the goal of the race is to get as muddy and dirty as you possibly can. It is usually cold and sometimes wet, yet people run with joy! There is excitement and enthusiasm throughout the race. It is not important who wins the race. The joy is in being part of it. It’s a wonderful image of how we should run our race.
God has placed us within a community of faith called the church. It is a very diverse community with many different outward expressions of our faith. Together we are running the race of life for the glory of God. Corporately and individually God wants us to run the race as full participants with joy. In Colossians 3:15-17 Paul talks about this community experience. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Paul calls us to encourage each other along the way as we give our best for the glory of God.
As I think about running the race with joy I am reminded of Eric Liddle. Part of his life’s story is depicted in the movie Chariots of Fire. Eric was a gifted runner and a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. He set his sights on running in the Olympics. In the movie his sister comes to him and chides him because she sees his running as interfering with his preparations to go to China as a missionary (which eventually he does). In a tender and powerful moment he says to her, “I am committed to be a missionary in China, but you need to understand that God has made me fast and when I run, I feel God’s pleasure”. I can, in a small way, identify with Eric Liddle’s words. When I use the gifts that God has given to me, I feel God’s pleasure. When we understand the race that God has marked out for us, and we pursue that race, we experience the delight of God.
John Moxin knows what it is to run the race with joy. John is a short man with a distinct British accent and a huge heart for God. John is dyslexic, which has made reading difficult for him all of his life. When God entered his life, he decided that God was calling him to be a preacher. He began applying to Bible schools but because of his dyslexia we was rejected. He was told that because of his handicap he would never make it as a preacher. But God had other plans for John. God gave John I Corinthians 1:26: “Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were influential, not many were of noble birth, but God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong, he chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before him.” John read that verse and he knew that was for him. For the last 30 years John Moxin has been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Northern Ireland. He has been stoned and run out of town but he’s never given up the race. He runs the race with passion and with joy.
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