Faith for the Middle
Scripture:
1: Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
2: looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
3: For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
Hebrews 12 (NKJV)
Did you know that when serious runners train for a race, they train for the middle? Understandably, the middle of any race is the hardest part. It’s where a runner begins to run out of energy, strength, and the mental focus to keep going. Whether he or she is a sprinter or a distance runner, if they don’t make it through the middle, they won’t make it across the finish line. It sounds so simple, but it requires strategic training to succeed.
From a spiritual perspective, isn’t the middle what you’re in training for much of your lives? Think of it this way: you’re born one day, spiritually speaking, and then you begin this race, which is your journey in Christ on this earth, all in hopes of crossing the finish line some day and hearing that you did a good job with the race you ran. That might be an oversimplification, but it sums up your lives really well, doesn’t it?
Someday, when you finish your race, you want to be able to say like the apostle Paul, “I fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7), but to do that, you first have to get through the middle. To get through the middle – of everything – you will need endurance. The writer of Hebrews wrote, “For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised” (Hebrews 10:36, ESV).
Endurance is formally defined as “1 the ability or strength to continue despite fatigue, stress or adverse conditions.” 2 It’s the capacity to bear up under difficult circumstances. The power to withstand pain or hardships. It’s a hopeful fortitude that perseveres to the end. In the original Greek language of the New Testament, it is hupomone, a compound word that translates “to remain under.” 3 It is a quality built by remaining under pressure – something our natural inclination wants to run away from – and it seems to hit us the hardest in the middle.
• In the middle of friendships
• In the middle of dating relationships
• In the middle of marriages
• In the middle of parenting
• In the middle of education
• In the middle of building careers
• In the middle of an illness
• In the middle of a court case
• In the middle of an economic downturn
• In the middle of a transition
• In the middle of uncertainty
• In the middle of something you’re hoping praying will happen
• In the middle of waiting on answers to prayers
In the middle of anything is where it’s the most tedious, the most difficult, and utterly wearisome. It’s where you’re most challenged, isn’t it? It’s where all you want to do is quit.
But if you will build endurance, that strength the writer of Hebrews told you would be needed, if you will train ourselves from the Word of God, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, then you will have the what it takes to make it through the middle. And not just one middle, but every middle that you will ever live through.
Prayer:
Father, please give us the strength we need to endure to the end, to finish our race in faith, and to totally trust You through it all. It gets hard in the middle, and it seems so easy to quit. When people are talking about us. When no one seems to be listening to the message. When we feel all alone in our stance for righteousness. When it seems like You don’t hear us. Help us to remember that You have promised to never leave us nor forsake us, and we can stand on that promise. Thank You for Your faithfulness and for giving us the perfect model to follow as we navigate through the middles of life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Reflection:
Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. – William Barclay
Endurance[1] is formally defined as “1 the ability or strength to continue despite fatigue, stress or adverse conditions.” 2 It’s the capacity to bear up under difficult circumstances. The power to withstand pain or hardships. It’s a hopeful fortitude that perseveres to the end. In the original Greek language of the New Testament, it is hupomone[2], a compound word that translates “to remain under.” 3 It is a quality built by remaining under pressure – something our natural inclination wants to run away from – and it seems to hit us the hardest in the middle.
[1] Merriam-Webster, s.v. “endurance,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endurance
[2] J. Strong, A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and the Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 1:74.