Running the Race of Faith (Part 1)

Listening to the Life Stories of Those who Ran by Faith

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

What a great call from God, to run with endurance the race of life He sets before us! And not by our own devices, but by being encouraged by the example of many witnesses, by letting go of all that impedes us, and by looking into the face of our Saviour! This climactic passage is even moreso if you read it on the heels of chapter 11 (or the whole book, for that matter).

Still, I just can’t help but stumble over that first strange phrase.

Surrounded by a cloud of witnesses? (A healthy imagination can conjure up a plethora of possibilities.) As a new believer, I wondered if Christians who’d already died were somehow able to peer into the private places of my life. Sounded more like Ghostbusters than God’s Word the first time I read it. What kind of cloud, exactly, has got me surrounded?

Looking back to Hebrews 11, we find quickly drawn, deeply meaningful portraits of those witnesses. Some of these Old Testament saints did crazy things: building a big boat in the desert (before anyone ever had heard of rain); moving around in tents for what seemed to be no good reason; leaving a royal palace to herd sheep in a nameless wilderness; conquering a city by singing and marching around its walls. Can you imagine all the funny glances and behind-the-back whispering that went on among their neighbors? Yet we’re told that everything they did, they did by faith — not faith in their own ideas, but in the God who had instructed them. They trusted Him and His promises.

What promises did God make? That He was building a great nation of people for His glory; that He would one day write His word not on tablets of stone but on the very hearts of His new covenant people and put His Spirit in them; that He Himself would redeem people from their sin and uphold the demands of His covenant, which no man could ever uphold.

And for all their faith in the promises of God, these Hall-of-Famers did not see their fulfillment in their lifetime. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. (Hebrews 11:39-40)

These witnesses lived by faith in the utterly faithful God! This cloud is not an invisible army of spectators, but a timeless testimony to power that comes to endure when we put our faith utterly in God. They aren’t the ones watching us; we are the ones called to look on and be encouraged by their lives of faith.

In addition to the Bible examples listed in Hebrews 11, I think of some of the present-day witnesses in my own life that spur me on: friends who live more like Jesus than I do, Christian leaders whose teaching makes a tangible difference in my faith and my endurance. (What "witnesses" of faith in Christ encourage you in your race of faith?)

As the people of God, we are all witnesses of the Word become flesh, who made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Galatians 2:20

Next: Running the Race of Faith (Part 2): Laying Aside Every Weight