Finishing the Race

Scripture compares our life as a Christian below on Earth to a physical race and does so for different reasons. When runners embark on a race, they have all intentions of finishing it but many races are hard to finish. They are grueling and daunting and can be seriously tough to make it through and this is the way it is for us here below. The Christian life, while an enjoyable and beneficial one, is not easy to walk which is why so many walk away from it.

When I was new in my walk and just learning my way around the Earth and what God expects, there were times when I wondered if I could actually do this. What God expects of us is not overbearing but it can be very difficult especially for flawed individuals and we are all flawed. There have been different times, many times, when I made a big mess of a situation but God was always there. Even when the world had bailed, God never did and He never does. However, when times get tough, many people abandon what they began.

Over my life, I have seen people that I really cherished and adored walk out and for different reasons. At the moment in time, I may have thought that this was the end but what I did learn is that it was only the beginning. Sometimes, we have people leave our lives not to hurt us but because they would end up hurting us. Rather than these people being people who had our best interests at heart, they had other ulterior motives and while we could not see them, God knows and He said that it was time for them to go. Maybe it was something else but whatever the case may have been; what I saw as a potential downfall was actually a breakthrough.

These people that I thought I needed to be happy, while they were missed in the time that followed; they are just a memory now. What I thought was a downfall was a real lesson and while they did mean a lot to me, my life was not made worse because of their leaving. Their absence was, indeed, needed and as I look back, I am thankful for the lesson(s) they gave me as I learned a lot from each one but the most important lesson that I learned is to never stop running the race because of a temporary distraction here below.

Acts 20:24 reads “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” My story is like everyone else’s, we all have something that has made us who we are and while I enjoy life and the things that God has given to me, I have learned that I cannot put them above God. Sadly, people will betray you and hurt you in ways you never dreamed of but God never does. All the things that He does are for our benefits and we must remember this.

James 1:25 reads “But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” If we continue to put God’s word into action, He will bless us in all things and this means when things get tough, we cannot stop our race. The race will become difficult at times and we may like giving up but we cannot. We must continue on with our race despite the obstacles that come up against us despite what they may be and when we do our best and give the results to God, we can say that we have finished the race well: ” I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith:”

But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”

–Acts 20:24