God has a race for us to run, and we simply weren’t designed to reach the end out of sheer self-will or self-determination. He designed us to be built, little by little, by grace.
“It’s like running in sand. It’s not comfortable, it’s not easy. You’re not getting anywhere fast, but you’re building muscles for faith. You’re building endurance. You just have to keep going.”
My friend moved her arms in a running motion as she said this. And as I listened to her wisdom while our coffee grew cold, I pictured that classic scene of a pack of university lads moving as one along a wide beach in St. Andrews, Scotland, their feet treading the wet sand. They couldn’t look happier. Salty spray in their grinning faces, youthful energy driving them forward like a wind.
Though I am no expert, and as much as I love Chariots of Fire, my own experience of running in sand is not always as picturesque. Sand is course and rough. It can slow you down and it makes you stumble. None of us look our best trudging forward on a surface that sinks each of our steps.
My friend’s illustration was pretty accurate for my current season of life. At least as far as I could tell from the soreness of my “spiritual muscles,” and the often-defeating dead ends.
But Scripture has so much to say about times like these for the forming of believers’ faith. Paul also deemed it very appropriate to use sports metaphors to describe what it’s like to be a Christian in this world (1 Cor. 9). Continuing to trudge, to get back up when you stumble, is an act of faith that builds the endurance we need to run a better race.
Building Endurance in Faith Teaches Us Our True Source of Strength
“His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” (Psalms 147:10).
There is a limit to the number of times you can get back up merely to prove your own strength. That fuel burns out, and you quickly reach the end of yourself.
God has a race for us to run, and we simply weren’t designed to reach the end out of sheer self-will or self-determination. He designed us to be built, little by little, by grace.
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31).
The strength God builds in us through the working of his grace offers us a training ground like no other. We build up strength by leaning into our faith — faith that the Lord will honor every effort we make that leans on his promises.
Getting back up again, to choose to keep running, in the smallest of hopes, grasping at his grace — that has power to lift you higher and further than your imagination. That is the might of the mustard seed.
Building Endurance in Faith Teaches Us to Better Steward Our Lives
Choosing to get out of bed and persist in the small acts of faithfulness, the motions needed to simply take care of yourself and others, to get you through this day — such things are not meant to be glamorous, but they are far from insignificant.
Collecting stray socks from under the couch, packing little ones’ lunches, walking into church alone again, still choosing to be happy for the good things coming into others’ lives, wrestling through prayer when your heart feels far from God — none of these are small things.
So much of the life of faith means learning to pour out what God has poured into us. And for the times that call for endurance, it can feel like you have nothing to pour out.
Yet that’s just when we recognize what we have that we might not have noticed before, and this time of testing is reshaping your understanding of what the Lord has chosen — in his wisdom and goodness — to give to you to care for, to steward, and ultimately to give back to him.
Times of endurance teach us afresh how to steward the talents he puts into our hands, however many or few they may be (Matt 25:15-30). It’s like the widow’s mite, in Luke 21. By dropping her small copper coins into the temple’s treasury, she gave more than the rich, who gave out of their abundance.
An offering like the widow’s, however small it may seem, points to the power faith in the upside-down nature of God’s Kingdom. He’s heralding in a world that is built by faith, ordered in such a way as to result in our knowing him better through the way we see him at work, and leading to greater and greater worship.
Building Endurance in Faith Teaches Us Who We Are
In Matthew 11:29-30 Jesus says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Eugene Peterson’s version from The Message says, “Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Christ’s invitation to learn from him, to see how he moves through the world, lets us in on an important component to running — and finishing — this race. We need to shed the extra weight – everything, as Hebrews 12:1 says, “that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,” in order to run, to move persistently and steadily forward with perseverance.
Are you tired of tying yourself up in knots? Do you feel entangled, pulled down by the image or story or idea of a life you’re trying to hold together on your own?
Consider whether you need to bring to Christ’s feet anything that keeps steering you back into dead ends and self-service, or desires that may not be bad, but simply aren’t the prize God has marked out for you.
Building Endurance in Faith Makes Us Truer Witnesses of Christ
God is shaping you to be a witness to his grace — not your great deeds. And while most Christians would agree with this, so many of us still struggle to untangle our true identities from our works.
Like the elder brother in the prodigal’s tale, we work hard, thinking we’re earning great rewards, thinking our labor will accomplish what it takes for our Father to notice us. But we do not recognize that our reward is right in front of us, not having the eyes to see it.
Seasons that call for endurance, for persevering through disappointments, closed doors, suffering, or resistance calls us to question what we are truly laboring for, and in response to strip away anything that has been pulling us away from living more aligned with our confession that Jesus is Lord of our lives, and we can do nothing without him.
Like yeast working itself throughout the dough, preparing it to rise, the new life of the Kingdom is working itself out in each one of us who clings to Christ.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/mixetto
Sarah E Martin is a sister, aunt, daughter, and sometimes a globe trotter. She has a background in English literature, and a devotion to good tea. When she’s not writing or studying, she is attempting to learn the names of her backyard birds, or planning long, unhurried walks in her favorite places. She believes that Jesus is the answer to bringing all our stories together, and is the one who satisfies our ache for home.
