Just Keep Running...

“Perseverance is the hard work you do after you 

get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” 

Newt Gingrich

I’m exhausted. I’m irritable. And rest is no where in sight.

It’s in times like these, that my endurance & perseverance is tested. When life and circumstances that are out of my control won’t let me quit. And the only choice I have is to press on. To keep moving forward.

These times in my life are arduous. They are challenging. It ain’t fun! 

But I find that it is in these times that the Lord shows Himself strong. I am forced to rely on His strength, because I have no strength left of my own. And He enables me to move forward. He causes good fruit to be produced in the soil of difficulty.

“And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, 

knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and 

perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope...” 

Romans 5:3-4

The word tribulation in this verse is the Greek word thlipsis. It’s meaning is that of a pressing, pressing together, pressure. Ever felt that way before? Sure sounds a lot like life to me! :)

But what does it say these tribulations produce in us? Perseverance, proven character and hope. Through this pressure or tribulation in our lives, the Lord is able to bring forth good.

How then should we respond to these difficult and pressure filled times in our life?

“...but we also exult in our tribulations...”

To exult means to glory in a thing. We must exult in the tough times, through the “pressing” times in life. Why? Because of what those times produce. Because of what the Lord can yield in our lives due to them.

I read a verse the other night, after an exhausting day that never seemed to end. What it said really convicted me.

"Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.”

Matthew 5:41

Running is awful. I am convinced it could be used as an effective method of torture (I am slightly exaggerating...slightly.). And if someone forced me to run a mile with them, I would most likely want to sit down, finish coughing up my lung and have a nice cold drink of water. Willingly running a second mile with them would never cross my mind. Yet that is what Jesus is telling us to do in this verse. Life’s hard, heck yeah. Sometimes it is just downright terrible. But despite how much we may dislike it, there is really nothing we can do about it. 

As believers, we have to look at the bigger picture. We have to pray to our Heavenly Father to make our heart’s prayer be "yet not My will, but Yours be done." (Luke 22:42) And we have to run that second mile.

I do not have this concept mastered. I am SO far from any of what I’ve just shared. More times than not, I have to be dragged through through the first mile. Living this out is hard. This stuff is so easy for me to say, especially when my life could be so much harder. I have so much to be thankful for. Many of my friends come to mind as I write this, who are dealing with heart-wrenching trials. Depression. Cancer. The death of a friend. My life is a walk in the park with cotton candy in one hand and a puppy in the other, compared to theirs. My heart breaks for them, and my prayers are with them daily. But the message is for all of us, regardless of the level of difficulty we face in our lives. We must persevere. We must stay strong. And it gets back to us relying on that strength that comes only from our Heavenly Father.

So I leave you with this:

“...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, 

despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand 

of the throne of God.”

Hebrews 12:1-2

Get your running shoes on! :)