A Long Obedience In The Same Direction
If you have felt tired in your Christian faith lately, consider these four thoughts from Hebrews chapter 12.
…Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer (author) and perfecter of faith… Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1b-3
1- The Christian life is a race (journey)
The author of Hebrews pulled modern (for his time) imagery into the minds of his hearers as he referenced the idea of a race. In that time period, especially in areas closer to Rome, chariot races and foot races were spectacular events drawing large crowds. Connecting our journey of faith to a race brings a few connections to mind.
Races are usually long.
During a race, a runner feels various feelings. Sometimes they feel strong and able, sometimes they feel weak and ready to give up.
A race has distinguishable endpoints. You start at a specific location, and you end at a specific location.
For most, life is long. Your journey with God will go through various seasons, just like a race. Sometimes you will feel like you are flying. Other times, like you are sinking. This is life. Between job difficulties, God feeling close some days and far others, marriage and singleness struggles, habitual battles with the same sin, and a million other pain points, we get tired!
You may feel like something is wrong if you feel tired.
But who doesn’t get tired at some point? The imagery of Hebrews helps us all settle into a sustainable pace of Christianity. A realistic reminder that the spiritual journey holds many forms. Uphills, downhills, plains with scorching sun and no shade, winters atop a mountain. Christian success isn’t measured by what part of the journey you are in, but rather that you are moving towards the finish line.
As Eugene Peterson says, Christianity is a “long obedience in the same direction”.
2- If you fall, get back up
Sometimes you will stumble and fall (sin). The tendency to beat ourselves up after this is high. While conviction is a healthy pain, sometimes we can get stuck and disheartened by our failure, so much so that we want to give up the race. We believe we need to start again from the beginning, as if we had thrown away all our progress and growth in the faith.
We want to take sin seriously. However, if you fall during a race, you simply get back up, tend to your wounds, and then continue from where you stumbled. Mile 140 may have been a bad mile for you, but it doesn’t have to determine mile 141. Get back up. Keep going. God gives more grace. You are not defined by your stumbles but by your Spirit-empowered getting back up.
3- Endurance comes from Christ
Does endurance in the Christian life come from inner resolve? Guilt? Competition? My hunch is these three places feed a lot of our endurance, mostly because I see it in my own heart. What can drive me to continue in my spiritual disciplines, or to keep going to church when I don’t feel like it, or to keep battling sin is because I don’t want to let others down. And while these are ok secondary and tertiary motivations for obedience, they should not be primary.
What should be the primary motivation and source of our endurance?
“Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.” (Hebrews 12:3)
Christ should. Christ sustains our endurance by his own sacrifice for us. Go to Him and ask for more endurance when you need it. Consider His own endurance. How much He gave and sacrificed for us.
What often fills our reservoirs of endurance is meditation on Christ’s sacrifice for us on the cross. Will you meditate today on that? That’s what the author of Hebrews calls us to, to consider (meditate) in times of weariness.
4- Be Honest
If you are tired, tell someone. Even Jesus, in his final hours, told his closest friends (his disciples) that He needed prayer. He asked them to stay with him and pray with Him. Have you ever told another human being that you are tired spiritually? What might be keeping you spiritually weak is your pride, rather than your circumstances.
Take the risk of vulnerability and tell your friend, your spouse, your pastor… “I am spiritually tired lately. Reading the bible feels hard. Going to church seems difficult. Prayer feels cold…” You may be surprised how God meets you in honest confession.
The Race Ends
The Christian journey is a long one. We need endurance to go through the many seasons it offers us. I don’t know many people who would run with the knowledge that there was no finish line. Thankfully, in the Christian life, there is one. One where true rest is found at the end.
Look to the end, consider Christ and his endurance, and be honest with others when you feel spiritually tired. Get back up and keep moving in a forward direction. We’re all in this together.
Running and walking with you,
Josh.