The Air I Breathe: Run with Endurance

   I am not a runner. In fact I hate to run! It is hard, and it hurts! Give me a good Jazzercise class any day:) But I have become an avid walker and if we are in the mountains I love to hike. I've watched my kids run track and run marathons.  I see the effort they have put into preparation for these events. I have seen the pain on their faces as they persevered through hard parts of the race and I have seen the thrill of victory on their faces when they cross the finish line.
   These running stories have been on my mind lately as I have been dwelling on what it means to, "Consider it pure joy when you face trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect (mature) and complete, lacking in nothing." (James 1:2-3) I am asking questions like, "What is this kind of endurance, that it has a perfect result and that I am lacking in nothing?" I need that kind of endurance. How do I get it?
   The greek word for "endurance" is hupomone. It is an abiding under. It is keeping on in spite of the pressure from without. It's what Jesus did each day, knowing what lay before Him.
   There is also the passage in Hebrews 12:1 where it says that, "Since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God. For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart."
So I am doing what the writers of these 2 books suggest...CONSIDER. In the greek, this means to lead before the mind. It's a thought that takes priority. It's a lot to process because joy and trials don't seem like they should go together. I know Lindsey and I have been wrestling with what it means to have joy right now. I noticed that in the Hebrews passage it says "since we," "let us," and "we." It seems we don't run the race set before us alone. Everyone who is a Jesus follower has a race before them. So we are in it together.

And it also seems that we have a crowd following us during this race. Lindsey's blog www.vaporandmist.wordpress.com has an amazing following. It's always good to have a crowd cheering you on. But there is a watching world that longs to see what being a Christ follower looks like when tragedy strikes. I am praying they see honesty and a faith that endures! And this passage could also mean there is a heavenly crowd watching and very much wanting us to finish the race with that perfect result. But I am also to run my own race. A coach encourages his runners to..."just run your own race, don't look back, stay focused, stay in your lane." Jesus is the perfect example of someone who ran His own race. He saw the finish line, and it was the cross. Nothing could deter Him from finishing. The crowds, the religious leaders, the disciples, his own mother, all wanted to keep Him from His ultimate goal: dying on the cross, bearing my sin, conquering sin and death once and for all and then being reunited for eternity with the Father. So that means God gives us each a different race. Mine is different from any of my friends. They know my story, and I know theirs. I wouldn't want their race, nor would they want mine. But we are hopefully cheering each other on.

   This kind of endurance that Jesus exemplifies had joy as the outcome. He had His eye on that joy. And though our story, Lindsey and Kevin's pregnancy with Dasah Brielle ( yes she has a name!) may lead to ushering a little girl into heaven, there is joy at the finish line. That joy is knowing I will see Sophie one day in wholeness and life and if healing physically doesn't come for Dasah, then one day I have the hope of even better days, months and 10,000 years and more with these 2 granddaughters.

When I focus on God's finish line, I "lack nothing" like the passage in James says. That is the perfect result in my heart - an eternal perspective. But the way there is hard, it is a long race, and I do grow weary. I grow weary and sadness sometimes just takes over my heart.   But then I know I must once again "fix my eyes on Jesus." Like fresh water renews a runner in a marathon, whether it is splashed on her or whether she takes a drink. It is essential. It replenishes and rejuvenates. This is what the Word of God does in my life each day, and throughout the day.

The Psalms are a great comfort right now. Even this week, studying Psalm 16 verse 8 became my prayer, " I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken." And then verse 11 hit me, the key to joy, "In Thy presence is fullness of joy!"
   Jesus could say that He endured the cross for the joy set before Him because He knew He would be reunited with His Father, and would be in His presence once more. So endurance is beginning to have its "perfect result" in my life. I "lack nothing" when I have Christ and daily drink the living water of His Word.   I am desperate for that living Word. I have become captivated by the Lord's presence each morning as I seek Him for grace and strength.  That is what difficult times do...they drive you to the only source of hope there is and His name is Jesus.

I wrote this in my quiet time this week:

                             Run with endurance
                             the rest of this race.
                             There's always enough
                             of His infinite grace.
                             Know that this testing
                             will have the result
                             of holy perfection
                             then I will exult
                             in this great tribulation,
                             this call to abide
                             under the arms
                             of the One who's my guide.
                             For the joy set before Him
                             can also be mine
                            as my eyes fix on Jesus
                            at my finish line.

http://www.runnersworld.com/general-interest/91-year-old-finishes-san-diego-marathon I found this story of a woman who starting running at age 76 and just finished this marathon last month! I still don't think I will become a runner, but I like the idea of being 91 and finishing my race with that same joyful spirit she has on her face!