Romans 8:18

Romans 8:18

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

During the fall semester of my senior year of high school, our basketball coach implemented a running program that had two goals in mind: 1) Get us in shape for the upcoming season, and 2) Weed out any weak links in the chain. The program consisted of running a timed mile every Tuesday and Thursday morning for six weeks, with the requirement of improving on that time each week. If the time didn’t improve with each new mile, then you were cut from the team. It was all business, and for six weeks I was absolutely haunted by Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. I recall the mental turmoil that wreaked havoc as I toed the line to start each new mile, giving one of those nervous “we’re about to die” laughs to the guy next to me, both of us thinking it was nearly impossible to run faster than we did the time before. Yet with each new week, I somehow shaved seconds off my run, convinced that the next mile might just be the one that sends me to the grave. As followers of Christ, we run a similar path as this mile program. We know of the victory that awaits us at the finish line…we know that heaven is going to be a place of perfect peace, where all things align, love envelopes everything, and sin has no place…yet the path to get there can be downright miserable at times. We know that we can’t get there until we have completed the race that God has put before us. And only God knows when the finish line will come into view…could be tomorrow, could be 30 years from now. So for now, we continue to walk that path that God has designed. We must continue to wage daily battles with sin…we must continue to combat illness and pain…we must continue to navigate uncertainty, worry and grief…all the while knowing that at some point down the line, our victory awaits. But we can’t run this race with our sights darting about in different directions, enticing us to consider alternative paths, ideas, and theories. No, to run this race to completion, our sights must be set on the Father…laser focused on Him and Him alone…unwilling to accept any alternative road that we might come to. And when we finally take our last step and reach the finish line of this life, if we stand with an unflinching faith in Christ as our Redeemer, then that great victory that we have been eyeing for so long will finally be realized. There is no guarantee that the race will be easy, no guarantee that the trials will be brief…but there is a guarantee that the reward will be great…a reward that overwhelms any present sufferings that we might have to endure. Hold fast my friends…don’t give up on the race…keep the focus. A great victory is on the horizon. To God be all glory!