Run & Grow Not Weary



Hebrews 12:2

 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

 When I moved from my previous domicile under unfortunate circumstance, and returned to my decidedly less cushy home that I had been landlording for seven years, it was a humbling redirection. Frankly, even though I have been demoted locale-wise, I am in a much better place physically, emotionally, psychologically, vocationally, and spiritually. The road was hard but adversity has taught me well. 

 One thing that changed is the jogging route. For a while, I returned to my previous residence to run the roads that I had done so previously. Around a year and a half ago, I felt God was telling me to leave that behind and not to return ever again. Instead, he had a new route for me to run. Although the roads differ, both are hard in their own unique ways. The current one is a much better one for a thousand reasons.     

 God uses hard times to: (from Matthew Henry's Commentary on Hebrews 12:2)

 1) Get us to jettison that which needs to be left behind (Preparatory). Sin. 

 2) Cause us to focus on what is ahead (Perfective). Joy. 

 Henry writes that faith and patience are conquering graces. That is Puritan language for the tools needed to persevere in the face of adversity. We should see Jesus's own suffering and triumph as the source for our own overcoming. It is not just a metaphor, it is as real as the Roman Cross with nails and wood. 

 Hard times are difficult to deconstruct, even in retrospect. We surely sin but not all our difficulties are entirely originating from disobedience. Sometimes it is true that we get storms where the clouds are not all our own. Some of it is others' sin. Sometime it is circumstance, wrong place and time type of thing. Sometimes it is just a given in a fallen world. All conspire to create a combination of adversity writ large.

 Yet, Jesus is truly the Author and Finisher of our faith. He begins it, He ends it, He is with us through it.    

     

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