Running the Race

ruinedforgood
Apr 28, 2024
4 min read

I have a friend who is usually training for marathons and other races. I do not envy the training he endures. One time he spent a year preparing for an Ironman which is a long-distance triathlon race consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a 26.2-mile run. That is a big no from me... But I was very proud of him for accomplishing such a great feat! Do you think that when this event took place my friend said, "Oh man, I really wish I didn't spend all of those hour's training!" or "That was a big waste of my time, I was already in shape for this." Yeah, probably not. I'm sure the training was unpleasant, time consuming, inconvenient and more, but when it came time to participate in the Ironman, I bet it was all worth it. Otherwise, he probably would have endured part of the event and given up, which would have been pretty discouraging. My friend completed the whole race and was well enough to celebrate over a big dinner in Barcelona (he couldn't eat much but we ate plenty for him).

How often are we complaining about the preparation and training for our race? We sometimes don't even believe we have a race to run. We think we can lounge on the couch, eat some potato chips and worry about the race a few years down the road. Training? Who needs it! Although the race I'm talking about is not the kind where you endure through the strength of your body, but the one you endure through the strength of your character and faith. You do have a race to run! Hebrews 12:1 says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."

In this race, like ones you run to obtain a prize, it is not important how you start, but how you finish. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

How was Paul so confident of this? How did he manage to get through hardship after hardship and keep his faith? What does it even mean to finish the race and to fight the good fight?

To fight the good fight and finish the face means you endure to the end. You remain steadfast in your belief in Jesus. The definition of the word endure according to Merriam-Webster is, "To remain firm under suffering" or "suffer hardships without giving in." So why is it that the very thing we need to run our race well is also the very thing we run as fast and far as possible from?

To hold fast to our faith requires we go through some serious testing. The fiery trials are where we find out what we are truly made of. To say you have faith and to really have it are two very different things. It is easy to claim you have faith when you haven't had any life circumstance that causes you to question your belief. It isn't until your belief is put to the test that you see what lies beneath the surface. The trials of life are where our beliefs become real. They become hearty like muscles after working out consistently. To run our race well, we must grow some spiritual muscles, which will never happen if we avoid pain. Pain is an unavoidable part of the race we all have to run. Jesus said to His disciples in John 16:33, "Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world." Even if you decide to stay on the couch, far away from training for the race, you will still endure what Jesus said to His disciples. Pain will come, so my question to you is this; why not use pain to run your race well?

Pain is a great teacher that can transform you from the inside out. Think about a painful experience you have gone through in life. Maybe it was the loss of a loved one, a crushed dream, rejection or something else. Did you find you had more compassion for someone facing a similar hardship? Do you believe you would have been able to relate with them as well or give them meaningful encouragement without experiencing the same pain firsthand? This is an example of endurance through a trial transforming you to look more like Jesus. These trials, as hard as they may be, produce something no good teaching or book can. They are invaluable to our growth and development. When we begin to see trials as opportunities rather than setbacks, we say yes to what Jesus wants to produce through our pain.

If pain were avoidable, I would say to you to lounge on your spiritual couch, eat all the potato chips in the world, and stay as far away from pain as possible. But since pain is going to touch you and me and our families and friends, we should consider what we do when it reaches us. It doesn't have to destroy you! You can endure, you just need to work your spiritual muscles. It's okay if you are weak, you have a really good coach and friend who will train you in the trials. You also have people who may have already developed the muscles you are working out and can encourage you. Weakness is not failure; it only points out the muscles you need to develop. Those muscles are aspects of your character and faith that are still being transformed. You are growing into His image and likeness, so trust the process (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. for you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4