from February
I love running in the rain. I love muddy and winding trails even more. I love the feel of cold water and wind on my face, the dull thud of raindrops on soaked leaves, and the happy fact that while most of the world feels "stuck" inside, I am totally free.
There are real facts: Once I am soaked through, I cannot be any more wet. Once my heart rate is up, it cannot go higher. Once I start, there is no reason to stop. And I am not stuck. I am free to stick it out.
Running tells me something about life, about faith, about my glimpses of what it means to live for a far kingdom and hope in a great God and race for the prize with nothing held back, even in the rain, even on the days when I slide and my face hits the trail. I think that's half the reason I keep getting up to run. And my glimpses are growing stronger.
Hebrews, chapter 11, offers a paradoxical, tough paragraph about saints who "conquered kingdoms" or "suffered mocking and flogging", who "stopped the mouths of lions" or "were sawn in two", who "obtained promises" or "went about in the skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated" (Heb. 11:32-38). On the one hand, we see great faith and victory, and on the other, utter defeat of people who had the same faith as those victorious.
The passage unapologetically lays out Christ-following reality: faith in the unseen, believing steadfastly in the promises, living for and seeking a homeland and city to come, sacrifice after the manner of Christ, mistreatment with the people of God rather than the pleasures of sin, and basically, a life on the altar. The culmination of this "hall of faith" mixes good things with bad things, triumphs with disasters, joys with destruction, faith (unseen) in good things with the facts (seen) of terror on every side.
The passage doesn't give us what we think we want: comfort and ease.
It doesn't give us what we think we need: understanding.
Instead, in view of this mess, it exhorts us in the beginning of chapter 12: "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (vs. 1-2)."
The mess doesn't mean we doubt, nor does it mean we should muster us an emotional or optimistic faith in the coming kingdom. The mess calls us to put our eyes one place: Jesus.
- "Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil. 2:4-8)
- "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." (Heb. 12:3)
- "Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us..." (Eph. 5:1)
Christ is both what we want and what we need. His sacrifice freed us for eternity. His life was a pattern for our walk. His victory secures ours. And His unchanging character of converging justice and mercy, give us hope ("I, the, Lord do not change; therefore, you, o children of Jacob are not consumed." Mal. 3:6). Trials and paradoxes were a part of His life, too, but the end matters more than the means.
Christ is the motivation for all our repentance from sin, cutting off weight, and running in full obedience. His beauty and holiness beckon us onward, call us from all that is vile and useless to the rich fields of grace.
To trust the Forerunner of post tenebras lux to do the same in our lives is not a vain trust. To surrender our desire for comfort and ease and follow after the One perfected through suffering is not an empty exchange. To trust the Fount of all knowledge and trust our misunderstanding in His sovereign hand is not a lame decision. This "cloud of witnesses" endured and raced with that in mind, freed to be nothing in the world because they were living for another one, and that is the sum and substance of faith: Jesus Christ.
He does not unshackle us so we can eat peaches and cream for the rest of our lives. He unshackles us to live in radical, joyful obedience, whatever it takes and whatever the cost.
Surprisingly, this is basic Christianity, and the way it has been since Eve was tempted in the garden. The world constantly pulls with tangible realities and says, "You deserve better than this", but Christ calls with the intangible and eternal realities and says, "Find real treasure. Loose your life to find it!"
William Rutherford wrote some four centuries ago, "For some it is 'Down crosses and up umbrellas!' but I am persuaded that we must take heaven with the wind and the rain in our faces." We do not overcome the world by dreaming big or filling the bank account; we overcome the world by tough fighting in the path of obedience.
This is where trail running comes in, where the trees are flashing past and mascara is mixed with rain and dripping into my eyes, and I'm more flying than running because my vision is skewed and the fog is coming in. "We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls (Heb. 10:39)." It's where the trail turns and there's a cliff on the left. "Since we have such a hope, we are very bold (2 Cor. 2:12)." It's where the trail turns again and heads uphill. "The surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Cor. 4:7)." It's where training kicks in and you can't quit. "He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the spirit as a guarantee (2 Cor. 5:5)." It's where you tripped last time, but didn't this time. "We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the boy the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies (2 Cor. 4:7-10)." It's where the trail ends. "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:16-18)."
We all think we want to conquer kingdoms and live a victorious Christian life. But do we really? Because we often shrink back from the cost, from the discomfort, from the risk of faith, the pain of obedience. If we really do, we will certainly and deliberately begin to let go of the fists that we clinch on our lives, surrender our counterfeit treasures and take the cost, discomfort, risk and pain - counting it joy for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.
Oh Spirit, Come,
Put strength in every stride,
Give grace for every hurdle,
That we might run
With faith to win the prize,
Of a servant good and faithful.
I love running in the rain. I love muddy and winding trails even more. I love the feel of cold water and wind on my face, the dull thud of raindrops on soaked leaves, and the happy fact that while most of the world feels "stuck" inside, I am totally free.
There are real facts: Once I am soaked through, I cannot be any more wet. Once my heart rate is up, it cannot go higher. Once I start, there is no reason to stop. And I am not stuck. I am free to stick it out.
Running tells me something about life, about faith, about my glimpses of what it means to live for a far kingdom and hope in a great God and race for the prize with nothing held back, even in the rain, even on the days when I slide and my face hits the trail. I think that's half the reason I keep getting up to run. And my glimpses are growing stronger.
Hebrews, chapter 11, offers a paradoxical, tough paragraph about saints who "conquered kingdoms" or "suffered mocking and flogging", who "stopped the mouths of lions" or "were sawn in two", who "obtained promises" or "went about in the skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated" (Heb. 11:32-38). On the one hand, we see great faith and victory, and on the other, utter defeat of people who had the same faith as those victorious.
The passage unapologetically lays out Christ-following reality: faith in the unseen, believing steadfastly in the promises, living for and seeking a homeland and city to come, sacrifice after the manner of Christ, mistreatment with the people of God rather than the pleasures of sin, and basically, a life on the altar. The culmination of this "hall of faith" mixes good things with bad things, triumphs with disasters, joys with destruction, faith (unseen) in good things with the facts (seen) of terror on every side.
The passage doesn't give us what we think we want: comfort and ease.
It doesn't give us what we think we need: understanding.
Instead, in view of this mess, it exhorts us in the beginning of chapter 12: "Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (vs. 1-2)."
The mess doesn't mean we doubt, nor does it mean we should muster us an emotional or optimistic faith in the coming kingdom. The mess calls us to put our eyes one place: Jesus.
- "Have this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." (Phil. 2:4-8)
- "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted." (Heb. 12:3)
- "Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us..." (Eph. 5:1)
Christ is both what we want and what we need. His sacrifice freed us for eternity. His life was a pattern for our walk. His victory secures ours. And His unchanging character of converging justice and mercy, give us hope ("I, the, Lord do not change; therefore, you, o children of Jacob are not consumed." Mal. 3:6). Trials and paradoxes were a part of His life, too, but the end matters more than the means.
Christ is the motivation for all our repentance from sin, cutting off weight, and running in full obedience. His beauty and holiness beckon us onward, call us from all that is vile and useless to the rich fields of grace.
To trust the Forerunner of post tenebras lux to do the same in our lives is not a vain trust. To surrender our desire for comfort and ease and follow after the One perfected through suffering is not an empty exchange. To trust the Fount of all knowledge and trust our misunderstanding in His sovereign hand is not a lame decision. This "cloud of witnesses" endured and raced with that in mind, freed to be nothing in the world because they were living for another one, and that is the sum and substance of faith: Jesus Christ.
He does not unshackle us so we can eat peaches and cream for the rest of our lives. He unshackles us to live in radical, joyful obedience, whatever it takes and whatever the cost.
Surprisingly, this is basic Christianity, and the way it has been since Eve was tempted in the garden. The world constantly pulls with tangible realities and says, "You deserve better than this", but Christ calls with the intangible and eternal realities and says, "Find real treasure. Loose your life to find it!"
William Rutherford wrote some four centuries ago, "For some it is 'Down crosses and up umbrellas!' but I am persuaded that we must take heaven with the wind and the rain in our faces." We do not overcome the world by dreaming big or filling the bank account; we overcome the world by tough fighting in the path of obedience.
This is where trail running comes in, where the trees are flashing past and mascara is mixed with rain and dripping into my eyes, and I'm more flying than running because my vision is skewed and the fog is coming in. "We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls (Heb. 10:39)." It's where the trail turns and there's a cliff on the left. "Since we have such a hope, we are very bold (2 Cor. 2:12)." It's where the trail turns again and heads uphill. "The surpassing power belongs to God and not to us (2 Cor. 4:7)." It's where training kicks in and you can't quit. "He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the spirit as a guarantee (2 Cor. 5:5)." It's where you tripped last time, but didn't this time. "We have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the boy the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies (2 Cor. 4:7-10)." It's where the trail ends. "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Cor. 4:16-18)."
We all think we want to conquer kingdoms and live a victorious Christian life. But do we really? Because we often shrink back from the cost, from the discomfort, from the risk of faith, the pain of obedience. If we really do, we will certainly and deliberately begin to let go of the fists that we clinch on our lives, surrender our counterfeit treasures and take the cost, discomfort, risk and pain - counting it joy for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ.
Oh Spirit, Come,
Put strength in every stride,
Give grace for every hurdle,
That we might run
With faith to win the prize,
Of a servant good and faithful.
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