I’m reading It’s Not Suppose To Be This Way from Lysa Terkeurst. She quotes Hebrews 12:1-3 in the Message translation and gives us her thoughts. Her inspiration. And if you know her story, she’s had quite the hard couple of years. I love her encouragement here especially since I’ve always loved this passage. I hope you find it as inspiring as I did. Keep those eyes fixed on Jesus.
Eugene Peterson paraphrased Hebrews 12:1-3
Do you see what this means - all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d be better get on with it. Strip down, start running - and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed - that exhilarating finish in and with God - he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into you souls. (The Message)
I love that Eugene gives us the secret of being a person who keeps going. Let’s call it the secret of being steadfast. Jesus lived it so we could know it. Let’s look again at one specific part of the passage: “Because (Jesus) never lost sight of where he was headed… he could put up with anything along the way.” That’s why we must keep our eyes on Him and go over His story - the Bible - again and again.
This is how we get through this life between two gardens. This is how we make sense of things that don’t make sense. This is how we can believe God is good when life isn’t good. This is how we can face hurt upon hurt, disappointment upon disappointment, longsuffering upon longsuffering, and still run our race with oxygen filling our lungs, peace filling our minds, and joy filling our hearts.
This is how we can accept reality but live reassured. This is how we wrestle well between our faith and our feelings.
Don’t lose sight of where we are headed. Let’s keep our eyes of Jesus, who will show us how to put up with anything along the way.