Running the Race of Faith (Part II): Travelling Light

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.
Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame,
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

1) ... let us lay aside every weight.....

I’m not a marathon runner — but even I know that to run well, you must travel light. If your sneakers fit well but are too bulky, if your jogging shorts aren’t the lightest you own, you will stumble when the race turns tough.

The writer of Hebrews applies this image to our faith relationship with Jesus. Whatever brings an unnecessary burden to our race of faith — any unhelpful habit or activity or thought pattern or relationship that impedes our progress — simply has to go. The one who pursues Jesus will gladly and deliberately lay aside anything that works against her.

I find it interesting that we’re not first told to avoid sin, but to lay aside anything that drags us down. There are things in our lives that are not sin, but that are unwise if we are to live completely for Christ.

Three examples in my own life come to mind: 1) Years ago, I stepped away from a ministry I’d been involved with for years, because I knew it interfered with the ministry God was guiding me into. 2) I am an avid reader, but at one time, I set all fiction aside: I noticed that my time and thoughts were too tied up with stories, not occupied enough with God’s Word. 3) Presently, my family fasts from computers one day a week, because of their potential to distract us from keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.

Obviously, reading good fiction, using a computer and serving in women’s ministry aren’t wrong! But for me, they were like wearing bulky sneakers in my race. So I laid them aside.

John Piper puts it succinctly: Don’t ask yourself, "Is this sin?" But ask of yourself, "Does this help me run?" If not, it may need to go, at least for a lap or two of your race.

2) ...and the sin that so easily entangles...

Casting off sin is a clearer concern: any sin we see in ourselves is to be rejected, destroyed, dismissed. There’s no room for it in your transformed heart and renewed mind! It will only interfere with your relationship with Christ. Following sin’s lead always draws our eyes away from Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, and veers us off our course.

Does this sound like a hurdle that’s raised too high? Every weight? Every sin? God’s immense grace toward us is stronger than all those burdens piled together! Don’t let a solitary thing stand in between you and the race of faith God has marked out for you. For as we travel light and strong and free in the race of faith, we will run with Jesus’ endurance, and with His joy.

(More on THAT part of the passage in a future blog post...)

I will run in the path of your commands,
for you have set my heart free. (Psalm 119:32)

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

One Mother's Prayer

I think I could pray all day long for my children and still have more to pray: for their physical protection, for their spiritual growth, for their relationships, for their attitudes, their accomplishments, their character, their future . . . if you’re a praying mom, you know just what I mean!

Several years ago, I wrote out this prayer for them. This is a "work-in-progress" in that I often start praying it and then think of other things to add, but somehow, having it written down helps me stay focused. Each prayer point is based on scriptural truth.

Whether we write out our prayers for our children, speak them aloud, or utter them silently, may the Lord who hears us answer them out of His Fatherly love for us and for our children.

Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear. --Isaiah 65:24

• Lord, would you pour out your mercy so that my boys would know Your perfect love
and they would joyfully trust You, even when my imperfect love for them falters.

How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are . . . 1 John 3:1

• Lord, would you protect and purify their bodies, minds and spirits, so they would be more like Jesus even though it’s hard for me to see them tested.

Be imitators of God, therefore as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us . . . Ephesians 5:1-2

• Lord, develop in them godly character: compassion & gentleness, hope & vision,
industry & diligence, humility & love, self-control & patience,

joy & peace, integrity & courage —
that their character would be strong even in areas where mine is weak.

See the character qualities listed in Galatians 5:22-24 & 2 Peter 1:5-8.

• Lord, work out your purposes for my boys,
which You knew when You formed them inside me,
even when those purposes differ from my own expectations.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place,

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

Your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:15-16

• Lord, please defend my children when they face spiritual attack
that would threaten their closeness with You,
and strengthen them to stand firm in their faith.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith . . . 1 Peter 5:8-9

• Lord, surround my boys with friends and mentors who will help them in Your ways,
and as they mature, bring people to them that they also can encourage in their faith.

See Ephesians 4:11-13.

• Lord, may they always know Your presence and recognize Your loving hand in their lives,
even when I am gone.

But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear Him,

and His righteousness with their children’s children —

with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.
Psalm 103: 17-18

• Lord, help me to persevere in parenting the children You’ve given me with Your love and grace.

Keep me from fear as I train and teach them in Your ways.

Help me to remember that they are in Your hands, even more than they are in mine;

Help me to fully enjoy them each and every day.

• And Lord, I praise you in advance for the wonderful things you will do in their lives,

things I cannot imagine, in answer to my prayers.

He tends His flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads those who have young . . . Isaiah 40:11

Resting in the Storm

Suddenly, a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But [Jesus] was asleep. — Matthew 8:24

What a picture: Jesus naps as the boat beneath Him threatens to go under! How can He rest peacefully while the ship tosses and turns on furious waves? Seasoned fishermen familiar with storms, the disciples are anxious about the violence of this particular one. Certain that Jesus’ fatigue had rendered Him clueless as to their doom, the disciples call upon Him to wake up: "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" (Matthew 8:25)

 But before rebuking the raging storm, Jesus rebukes the disciples: "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" (Matthew 8:26). Only then does He calm the waves and the storm. Instantly, both the seas and the disciples are quieted.

Is God sleeping in your storm? As the water rises, is it tempting to think that He is not paying close enough attention to your plight? If He’s not coming to the rescue, well, then, we’d better take matters into our own hands!

We may not recognize our thought patterns and our actions as "little faith," to use Jesus’ words. We scheme to turn the tide to our advantage; we are worried and uncertain of our future; we are sure that the plight of our family or our career rests in our own hands. We can’t hear His voice over the howling winds; we can’t see His face because we’re busy watching the waterline rise against our battered boat.

But when we turn to our own self-rescue plan, we are living as though God were asleep at the helm, as though He were not the Ruler and Provider and Protector that He has clearly and repeatedly declared Himself to be. And for all our fretting and figuring, we do not have the power to quiet a storm.

It takes the Word of the Creator (often at the very last minute!) to bring peace and purpose. As He begins to still the waves, we understand that He has never once looked away from us. "He who keeps you will not sleep" says Psalm 121:3. At the same time, we are humbled before Him, to see how easily we forget who God is, how quickly we turn from His resurrection power to our own human efforts.

How do we remind ourselves that He isn’t asleep? By fixing our eyes on Jesus alone, growing in our relationship with Him, through fellowship with Him in God’s Word and prayer. Only by knowing Him better will we more readily rest in His faithfulness and be prepared to trust Him in the inevitable "next storm."

You . . . still the noise of the seas and their waves
and the tumult of the peoples. -- Psalm 65:7

Who Am I? I Am HIS!

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
should care to know my name, should care to feel my hurts?
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
should choose to light the way for my ever-wandering heart?
Who am I, that the Eyes that see my sin
should look on me with love, and watch me rise again?
Who am I, that the Voice that calmed the sea
should call out through the rain and calm the storm in me?
Not because of who I am, but because of what You’ve done,
not because of what I’ve done, but because of who You are!
I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow,
a wave tossed by the ocean, a vapor in the wind;
still you hear me when I’m calling, Lord, You catch me when I’m falling,
You have shown me who I am: I am Yours. (Who Am I, by Casting Crowns)
　
The Lord spoke to Moses, calling him to an astonishing assignment: "Come now, therefore, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt." Moses replied:

"Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?" (Exodus 3:10-11) Can you hear the fear and sense of inadequacy in his voice?

The Lord spoke to David, promising him eternal blessings: "Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever." A humbled and thankful David prayed in response:

"Who am I, O Lord God? And what is my house, that you have brought me this far? . . . How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! For there is none like you, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard." (2 Samuel 7:21, 18 & 22) Can you hear the awe and gratitude in his prayer?

I can identify with "who am I" questions. I’ve experienced times of stunned gratitude (who am I, that the Lord should bless me with two children?) and moments of deep self-doubt (who am I, that God could think I can handle this ministry?).

The marvel in this question is that the answer never really lies in who I am, but in Who I belong to. I have learned that my God pours His grace into me beyond measure, although we both know I don’t deserve it. He also calls me to impossible things — and then He generously equips me for them.

In short, He chooses to bless, to call, to love, to save, because of who He is, what He has done, and what He intends to do.

I think back 24 years to October 1987, when God reached down to me in the midst of my very upside-down life, and turned me right-side up. Who am I, that the holy Lord, who dwells in inapproachable light, should rescue such a sinner?

When He changed me, my strongest desire was to dust off my Bible and read it cover to cover, because I could hear His voice there, and it was music to newly opened ears. Who am I, that the Word of Life should speak to me?

My heart echoes this song because I have learned its truth: it’s not a matter of who I am or what I’ve done. Every gift in my life, big or small, is because of Whose I am.

Praise God; I am His!

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2:8-9

A Parent's Poured-Out Prayer

Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin;
pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.
Lift up your hands to Him for the lives of your children . . .
— Lamentations 2:19

In her book The Power of a Praying Parent, Stormie Omartian starts out with this Scripture passage, one I had never noticed before she singled it out. The prophet Jeremiah wrote Lamentations during Judah’s exile in Babylon, a time of great sorrow for God’s people, as they suffered the consequences of their sins. This call to prayer was for the well-being of the children, starved both of food and of their spiritual heritage, in hope that Israel would survive the horrors of exile and return to the Lord once more.

Ethnic annihilation and mass starvation are not imminent threats to our children as they were in Jeremiah’s day. But inherent in our culture are threats to our children’s spiritual health: materialism, self-indulgence, pride, immediate gratification, and the immorality that stems from these godless values. If we imagine that these factors are less of a danger to our children’s spirits than Babylon was to the nation of Israel, we are naive.

What are our prayers for our children like? Are we crying out to God for their spiritual health and protection? We may read the Bible with them, take them to church, teach them Christian morality. But what will make the vital difference for them will be a solid relationship with Christ. As parents, our most powerful tool toward that end is prayer.

So what do we pray? My maternal bias can move me to pray with love and might, but it can also sometimes interfere with me praying God’s will, as I become sidetracked by my own agenda. I find I pray most powerfully and consistently for them (not to mention for myself and others!) when I use Scripture. Then, I am confident that my prayers reflect God’s purposes.

Before my sons were born, I chose passages to pray for each of them.

For Matthew, I pray Matthew 22:37-39, that he would love the Lord with all his heart, mind, soul and strength, and would love his neighbor as himself.

For Benjamin, I pray Micah 6:8 — He has shown you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.

Another frequent Scripture prayer is from Ephesians 3:16-19 — that Christ would dwell in their hearts through faith, and that my children would know the strength and size of God’s love for them.

As we teach them, discipline them, enjoy them and love them, let’s also "pour out our hearts like water in the presence of the Lord . . . for the lives of our children." And may we know the unequalled joy of a parent’s answered prayer: I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth (3 John 4).

Other Scripture prayers
Colossians 2:6-8
Colossians 3:13-15
James 1:5
Philippians 1:9-11
Psalm 90:14, 16-17
Ephesians 5:1-2 & 6:10:

Giving Glory

Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
because of your mercy, because of your truth. (Psalm 115:1)

Absentmindedly stroking our part-Siamese kitten, Matthew looked up from his morning Bible reading and asked me: "Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible that animals bring glory to God?"

"Sure," I said, as my mind ran to Psalms.... maybe that part in Romans 8 about creation... or those last two chapters of Job...

"How?"

"Well, by doing and being just what they are meant to, according to God’s purpose. Just like us! When we’re who God wants us to be, living out God’s purpose for us, we bring Him glory. It’s what He made us for."

We talked about flowers that blossom and bring glory to God, without even trying. Trees that go through their change of seasons, bringing glory to God. Birds that sing, heavens that speak, rocks ready to cry out, all creation declaring God’s glory and thus bringing Him glory.

"Mao gives delight to our family," Matthew concluded. "That’s how he brings God glory. That’s his purpose."

Our purpose is essentially the same, isn’t it? But how we bring God glory is far grander than the cat’s cuddle or the sky’s sunset or the blossoming crepe myrtle. None of them are created in God’s likeness! They reflect his beauty, His creativity, His nature. But humanity alone, of all creatures on earth, reflects the image of the Creator!

It is an astonishing fact that I am made in the image of the One who made me. And that God has given us the light of the knowledge of His glory in the precious face of Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 4:6). His reflection in me, while scuffed and scarred by sin, nonetheless shines, because Jesus has washed the stain of my sin away. While stubborn marks remain, which dim His glory in me, His Spirit living in me is far greater than any power of sin.

To bring Him glory by being all He wants me to be, doing all He wants me to do: that’s what I want. And I’m not worried about the doing, because that naturally grows out of the being. As I focus on Jesus, I will grow more like Him, and the things I do will bring Him increasing glory (see 2 Corinthians 3:18).

As Augustine once said: Love God, and do whatever you please.

"Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the strong man glory in his strength,
Nor the rich man in his riches;
But let him who glories glory in this:
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the LORD,
exercising lovingkindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth.
For in these things I delight," says the LORD.
(Jeremiah 9:23-24)