Finding the Way Home
The eNewsletter Archive

Below is the archived version of Marshall Hayden's eNewesletter "Finding the Way Home." If you would like to be added to to mailing list, please send a blank email to evangelism-subscribe@worthingtoncc.org.

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November 2007

It's a Steeplechase, not a Sprint

It upsets some folks when they realize that the Christian life is not all joy, no pain, no doubts, but a hallelujah day every day. At least I've never seen one that was like that. And echoing from the town of Lystra, where he had to dig himself out from under a pile of stones, I can hear a hearty "amen" coming from the apostle Paul. What's the use then? Well, for starters I can think of a few things, like the gathering of experience and insight that can be used to help another struggler, a new appreciation for what the Master has had to endure and of what a privilege the good times are — and heaven!

Because we have a taste for instant gratification, generally a low threshold for pain, and some difficulty staying still very long, it's hard for us to accept that there is anything positive to be gained from trouble. Surely perennial good health is a sign that God is blessing us; and freedom from financial pressure is evidence that we are pleasing Him. If we have lost a favorable opportunity or position it must be because someone else is thwarting the will of God. Certainly He would not want me to have to go "through this."

Now, let's see! What Old Testament hero spent a charmed life that had no obstacles to deal with? Job? Jonah? David? Naomi? What disciple of Jesus in the New Testament, what apostle, faced no difficulty, made no miscues, and raced into the kingdom with a spiritual sprint? Peter? Paul? Mary? James? John? How long did it take those who were often with Jesus 24/7 to "get it?"

The Steeplechase, I believe, is a pretty good analogy for the believer's life. I've never run one. I really haven't ever wanted to run one. Those guys are "spent" when they finish the race. They are splattered, scraped up, with knotted muscles and heaving chests. Unlike those super specimens who have sprinted for under ten seconds, claimed the victory, taken a lap to receive the cheers of the crowd, and jumped up on the podium to claim their medals, no longer even breathing hard, the steeplechasers and marathoners have to rest before being able to accept their awards. Standing straight is hard when the oxygen has been bled from your muscles. But I believe that a victory in a race like that would be enormously satisfying.

Paul said something like that, didn't he? "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness" (II Timothy 4:6-8a). And he tells us how he got there. "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I know the secret to being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:12-13).

Ah! Strength for the race! And most likely it will not be a short, or an easy one. Except when compared with the length of time that the believer will have with God when this little steeplechase is finished!