You see, it is not talent or gifts or great anything to make it through, it is endurance. The thing we need is simply the ability to make it through. We need the ability to endure.
“36For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” — Hebrews 10:36 (ESV)
Strength to withstand it all. I have to be conscious that I will be challenged and will have times of difficulty. It is in those times that I will need the strength to withstand and make it through. I will need the stamina to finish the race. I will need the desire to accomplish the feat. I will need to endure the challenge and difficulty to receive what is promised.
I have to be careful in how I present my thoughts here. It is not winning that I am referencing here, at least in the sense of becoming the trophy wielding champion that is thought of by enduring. Winning in this sense is making it through to make it to the next opportunity to serve God through the tasks He has for me. I have a role to play and that role may simply be to get things going and just finish my part.
There are a number of analogies that I can make with regard to enduring my part for my reward later. I will go with the one of the pace setters used in races. These pace setters are there to only really get things going. Their job is to be chased in the race so the others have something to work for and are not left to simply do things on their own. These pace setters endure more than they are really capable of to help others. They endure to be rewarded, not by winning the race (in fact, they often don’t even finish) but by driving the speed of the race to create a greater challenge to the others running. They are there to drive the pace to create the opportunity for others to gain. They are rewarded by the times they set the race to take place.
Our endurance in the now will gain reward in the future. There may be times that it may feel as though we do not finish the race in first place, and I have to remember that my role may not be to “win” but to set the pace for others in the challenge. I have a role to play in the overall success of the glory of God and that role in some instances is only to get things started. I have to be willing to endure the work to receive the reward in heaven and not look to this world.
What work are you or have you done that seems to be lacking in reward? Are you looking to win the races you run, all of them? What if you were to endure the work, not for your victory, but the victory of God and then you receive your reward in heaven?
Trevor's Thoughts 