Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. Hebrews 12:1 (NLT)
The Struggle Is Real – Pilgrimage Series – Part 2
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6
I used to preach around this scripture, and every time I did, I would use the metaphor of running to explain it. It would include points about exercise, building strength, being prepared and wearing the right gear.
*sigh*
But it just always seemed like there was more to it. The verses that surround Hebrews 12:1 tells stories of people with heroic faith, who faced horrific challenges and situations, some even laying down their lives for their faith. It seemed a little shallow to compare their life journey to a running race. The passage seems to hint at some kind physical exertion, perhaps a marathon, but there’s more to it than that; a subtle interpretation that brings depth to the picture.
We discussed yesterday that the Greek word used for “run” in this passage more closely means to “exert oneself to the limit of one's powers in an attempt to go forward…” So while, the act of running is an exertion of energy, the story the author seems to want to communicate is not around a short race, but the act of putting everything you have into moving forward. A pilgrimage. A journey. An exodus.
The way we have interpreted the word for “race” used in Hebrews 12:1, has generally perpetuated the generally accepted athletic, competitive notion of the passage. But the word more closely means “the place of contest; to struggle or to fight.”
When Hebrews was written, there were athletic games held in arenas, especially in Rome. But even then, the races were short – only 3 miles long at best – and marathons were much shorter than they are today, and not widely popular. But to struggle? To fight? This was something that Jewish people were familiar with. As we looked at last week, the name Israel means “to struggle with the Divine.”
When you put this idea within the context of Hebrews 11 and the rest of 12, alongside the hero-feats and enduring faiths of believers past, the concept of struggle brings greater clarity to the passage as a whole.
And it means more to me.
Life is not a race. It’s not a competition to see who wins, or who gets the most, or who cleans up all the prize money and trophies. You can’t train for life before you engage it: it’s all ‘on the way' preparation. Life comes at us whether we are ready for it or not, and it's a discipline not to race through the heartache, pain, and suffering so that we can deal with them appropriately and learn the lessons only those seasons can teach us.
I admit, there are times where I feel fit and light, and I seem to run like a gazelle through my days (that may be taking it too far…). But more often than not, there are struggles and contests going on all around me, if not within me. One of the greatest temptations in life is to ignore the conflict, pretend it's not there; to not fully engage our moments of heartache, responsibility, mistakes, failures, and even successes. I’m not talking about violent and aggressive conflict that we wilfully engage in with other humans. I’m talking about facing up to our lives; showing up, and giving it all we’ve got.
Forgiveness
Mercy
Compassion
Healing
Redemption
Sacrifice
Faith
Hope
Love
This kind of living requires endurance and guts. It takes courage and faith to press on through perils and trials, struggles and sufferings and continue to journey down your path.
But, there are many who have paved the way…
Do you race through the hard parts of life? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Go to Part 3 – Shalom »
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