As Christians we know that our heavenly Father God chastens us so we may share in His holiness. This chastening is not pleasant! All the things we go through, the pressures we are subjected to in daily life, whether through our choices or the choices of others around us are ultimately from our loving Father. Whether we feel blessed or not blessed by those things happening to us makes no difference. We are being dealt with by our Father, shaped in fact, into the same image as Jesus His Son.
As we go through the daily grind of life we hang onto our God, knowing that He with us in all things. We set our eyes upon Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith.
Jesus with Father, is finishing or completing our faith.
Heb 12:2 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.
Heb 12:3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
I have emphasised endured in the quote above for that is our daily experience isn’t it? We persevere, we endure. We press on. God is with us, though it might not feel like He is at times. The reality is that we do get WEARY AND DISCOURAGED in our souls through the long drawn out endurance race that is this life on earth.
Jesus is with us, never ever forsaking us as we run this race with endurance. He is the author of our faith, for really it is His faith inside of us carrying us to the finish line. But He is also the finisher, or the completer of our faith. In that process of completion, Jesus will deal with the things that are hindering our faith in God. In a real marathon, the legs begin to cramp if the muscles do not get enough mineral salts and oxygen. Lactic acid builds up in the muscles and the body cannot take it away quick enough and replace it with oxygenated blood. Perhaps the heart is not strong enough for the distance? Perhaps the runner drank alcohol the night before, which will effect his performance. Perhaps there is a blockage in his arteries?
I actually ran a marathon once when I was 23. At the 28km mark my legs went from under me and I could only walk and jog, walk and jog the next 14km to the finish line. I had never actually run the full 42km in one stint before. I had only trained for 21km races. So my ability to go twice as far was not there. After the race I could hardly walk for 3 days!! Stupid!! It was not until I was 53 did I discover that I had a leaking heart valve which the Doctor said I may have been born with. So I was not able to pump enough blood perhaps to meet that kind of exertion.
But Father God knows the way we take in life. He knows the pressures. He has sent helpers to hold us up, just as Simon of Cyrene carried Jesus cross for Him in His own race to the finish line.
The Holy Spirit knows where there are any blockages to your faith. He knows where there is any problem which causes you to fall over, to be unable to go another step. He will heal you. As you let Him. Some of those problems are mind things. Wrong beliefs, wrong concepts and expectations. He knows and He will remove those things together with us as we walk with Him.
Getting across the finish line as victors is His job. Allowing Him to do that is our part.
Aaaah….allowing God to help us means we must ADMIT we need help!
Needing Help is a lesson in humility. We are not our own Savior–Jesus is.
Heb 5:7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,
Heb 5:8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
Heb 5:9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,
Just like Jesus we offer up our own vehement cries and tears to our Father when we are going through our own struggles. And rest assured that HE DOES HEAR US TOO! We come into the rest, seated next to father inside Jesus. God brings us through each struggle as we cooperate with the Spirit. We give assent. We acknowledge our self righteousness and accept His gift of righteousness. In accepting His HELP we are once again resting inside and being carried by our Father all the way home.
