2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct yourhearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. (NIV)

 

When I was in High School, I enjoyed all sorts ofathletic sports, especially anything to do with running. I was on the school’ssenior sprint relay team, but I much preferred the middle and long distanceevents. I enjoyed running laps around the track and usually ended up as one ofthe first three runners to finish a race. The secret was to pace myself and toendure the number of laps required and then, with a burst of speed on the lastlap, overtake most of the other runners.

 

One season, my gym teacher invited me to represent theschool in a cross-country race. I had never done this before, but I thought itwould easy because I could cover the distance. When the race started, I wasdetermined to keep up with the leading pack, but they were running much fasterthan I anticipated. I very soon got winded and fell back down the field. I hadnot anticipated the difficulties of running up and down hillsides, instead of beingon a flat track. As I watched many other competitors gleefully run past me, Irealized I was in the wrong kind of race. After it was over, I was glad to getback to running on a flat field.

 

I still admire cross-country runners to this very day.Their perseverance and stamina, as well as their focus and determination, arequalities I deeply respect. They taught me a lesson about endurance which Ioften find relevant in today’s church world.

 

Maintaining our faith in these trying times frequentlyrequires patience and perseverance. The ups and downs of our daily lives aresometimes difficult to endure. Congregations like our own sometime experiencebumpy roads and even a few setbacks. Thankfully, however, just as today’s verseamply expresses, God’s love always guides us while Christ’s perseverance helpsus to prevail.

 

May Jesus continue to bless us as a church of God’speople who faithfully keep going on.