I spent most of my teens and early twenties competing in endurance sports with countless hours each day either on a bike, running, or swimming laps. These types of activities require a unique focus and motivation, with maybe even a little bit of crazy mixed in. Endurance is defined as the capacity to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity or to withstand hardship or adversity.1https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endurance This ability to withstand hardship is exactly what is needed to ride your bike for 100 miles through the Colorado Rockies or finish a long run. However, as I have gotten older, I have realized that it is also endurance that is needed to live the Christian life and to please the Lord in the midst of the daily grind. As counselors, one of the most important things we can help our counselees learn is to faithfully endure whatever hardship God is allowing in their lives.
The Command
Hebrews 12 presents this theme of endurance when it commands us to “run with endurance the race set before us” (Hebrews 12:1), and Hebrews 10:36 tells us that “we have need of endurance.” The author of Hebrews aptly uses the metaphor of running a race to illustrate our need to endure, to patiently keep going, and to not give up. The apostle Paul also encourages us to run our race with great purpose and aim, striving for things of eternal value and reward (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
What is the race set before you that requires endurance? Is it a chronic health struggle in which you feel hopeless and exhausted? Are you in a marriage in which there is daily conflict or unrelenting discouragement? Maybe you are in need of endurance as you parent a rebellious child. With God’s help you can keep going in the face of difficulty and remain steady and constant as you move forward to the finish line.
Why Are We Called to Run With Endurance?
The motivation to endure the pain associated with running a marathon is the reward at the end of the race. In the same way, Hebrews 12 gives us several motivations to endure the race of life. It starts out by reminding us of the examples we are to follow as our inspiration so that we will not grow weary and lose heart (Hebrews 12:3). Hebrews 11 tells us about the lives of saints that have gone before us and who have faithfully endured great persecution, suffering, and trials. The greatest of these models of endurance is that of Jesus, who endured the cross because He knew the joy that was waiting for Him at the end of the race when He sat down beside His father in heaven (Hebrews 12:2).
Later in Hebrews chapter 12, we learn of another important motivation. In Hebrews 12:7 we are told that we are to endure for the sake of discipline. Granted, that doesn’t seem to be the motivation most of us are looking for, but we find out in verse 10 that this discipline is for our good so that we might become more like Jesus Christ. The author of Hebrews isn’t naive or unaware of the pain that is involved in the discipline or training of the Christian life, but rather he acknowledges that it often can seem sorrowful instead of joyful in the moment (Hebrews 12:11).
You may have heard the phrase “no pain, no gain.” I remember many days of training for races through the cold of winter or hot sun while feeling sick, in pain, or simply being discouraged. The training often was not enjoyable or rewarding in the moment; however, over time, the intensity and strain on my body and mind produced the reward of fitness and strength. In a much better way, Hebrews promises us that as a result of discipline and through endurance, we will see a good result that yields holiness and righteousness (12:11). As we endure, we become more like Jesus Christ!
How Do We Endure?
I ran track in high school and remember one relay race particularly well in which I was the anchor of the team. As my teammate rounded the final curves of the track I needed to quickly take off my sweat pants and prepare to receive the baton and finish the race. The problem was that I was trying to take my pants off over my shoes and the more I tugged and pulled the more they stubbornly remained on. When I finally realized that I had no more time, I ripped my shoes and pants off, grabbed the baton and ran my leg of the race barefooted. At that moment, it was imperative to running and finishing the race that I remove the things that were getting in my way.
In the same way, running the race set before us requires us to remove from our lives whatever is weighing us down and impeding our race. We cannot joyfully and faithfully endure when we are encumbered by various sins and temptations. People often come to counseling because of some protracted pain in their life that cannot be resolved. It is not our job as counselors to try and fix the circumstance they are in, but rather to help them to endure it well. One of the things that makes trials more difficult and painful is our sinful responses in the midst of them. As you run your race with endurance, be sure that you are not weighed down by the sins that can easily entangle you (Hebrews 12:1). Watch out for and remove the weight of unforgiveness, bitterness, discontentment, self-pity, anger, and fear. Ask the Lord to give you eyes to see the sin that is making your race more difficult and then with the help of the Holy Spirit strip it away. Don’t endure passively, but rather, actively endure and keep going in a way that is fruitful in your spiritual maturity and blesses those around you.
One of the best ways to run with endurance is to fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus is our motivation and our means for enduring. We look to Him as our example and we look to Him to be our strength. We fix our gaze not on how badly it hurts or on how much longer the race is, but on His promises to walk alongside us (Deuteronomy 31:6; Isaiah 41:10) and give us what we need to finish the race with endurance (Philippians 4:19). Remember that He is the author and perfector of your faith (12:2) and He is the one who will help you persevere until the end (Jude 24-25).
Conclusion
Do you find yourself today in the middle of a time of life that requires endurance? You might feel alone and depleted of the necessary resources to keep going on. God’s Word is full of promises that God is intimately involved in helping us at these precise moments. He tells us that He has given us His Word as a means to help us to persevere, be encouraged, and to have hope (Romans 15:4). He also gives us the magnificent promise that He Himself will give us the perseverance and encouragement that we need when we are weak and without strength (Romans 15:5). Cling to the promise that God will deal with you in compassion and mercy and that He counts us blessed when we endure (James 5:11). Keep going, be patient, strengthen your hearts in God’s Word, and look forward to His return (James 5:8).
