Going The Distance

Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.”

 I read the story of a man who ran 5000 miles across America. Would the heat, hills, snakes, dust, cold, or rain stop him? He did become weary with several things but chose to press on. In a moment we’ll see what almost made him stop in his tracks.

Why did Solomon write, “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof; and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit?” (Eccles 7:8) Patience is better than your pride of understanding stuff.

Recently, two of our members, Ardis Davis and Mayra Lopez at Oceanway Assembly Church ran a marathon of 26.2 miles in Jacksonville Florida. How did they do it? How did they go that far and not quit? Both of them shared the value of preparing for the race.

I love to see people go the distance in their relationship with God. Many don’t really count the cost and prepare themselves for the race. There is more to Salvation in Christ Jesus than just having an emotional high.

Joseph didn’t have a clue what his dream would cost him. I’m convinced that God reveals to you His Plan and Purpose, but He will not reveal to you all the Perplexities that go along with life. Joseph had certainty of his dream but could not understand all the test and trials that would come along with it.

It’s the little things that can throw us off. Joseph’s brothers would throw him into a pit and sell him to some Midianites for 20 pieces of silver. Then he would be sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh down in Egypt. Then Potiphar’s lying wife would falsely accuse him of seducing her. He would spend years in a prison cell for a crime he did not commit. Would he let a little seed of bitterness and the perplexities of life stop him from his dream and finishing the race?

“God balances our lives to give us enough blessings to keep us happy and enough burdens to keep us humble. If all we had were blessings in our hands, we would fall right over. So the Lord balances the blessings in our hands with burdens on our backs that help us stay steady.” Warren Wiersbe.

Why does God say, “We walk not by sight but by faith?” (2Cor 5:7) When a person draws the wrong conclusions from their burdens, it causes them to lose sight of the bigger picture of God’s purpose and plan for their life. Joseph could have easily given up on the Big Dream God placed in his heart but he pressed and persevered through the perplexities of his life and became the Prime Minister of the land of Egypt. It was overcoming the perplexities of understanding all his pain that caused him to save thousands who otherwise would have died in a famine.

What was the little thing that almost stopped the runner from completing his 5000 miles across America? “SAND” in his shoe. Is there something Satan is using to hinder the race that you’re in? Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, kept the faith and finished the course that is set before me.(2 Tim 4:7) It’s worth it to go the distance for God’s Best and refuse to let the little things hinder us in settling for the leftovers. Go for God’s Best and you won’t be disappointed that you did!