Perseverance – by Ed Dunn

Friend and Partner Letter from August 2024

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us – Hebrews 12:1, NIV

…The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong…but time and chance happen to them all – Ecclesiastes 9:11, NIV

The eyes of the world will be focused on Paris, France this month and the Games of the twenty-eighth Summer Olympiad. The ability of the athletes to persevere through the intense pressure, the mental preparation, and the demanding “fine-tuning” regimens required in order to run, swim, cycle, and compete at the highest levels, will be a common story told over and over again for nearly two weeks. Stories of setbacks overcome, hardships endured, injuries suffered, and rehabilitations completed will touch and inspire us. Stories of triumphs captured against all odds will move us and allow us to come to know much more about so many competitors. If we are lucky, we may even be able to see some of our own lives, our own stories, in theirs, and in what they have persevered through in order to succeed. It’s not just the colorful fanfare and new world records we watch for, but what it can take to achieve such spectacular heights.  

Perseverance. In many biblical translations, the synonymous term used is long-suffering. To live in our world today, with any sense of peace within, we must come to know and experience perseverance. As we face life’s challenges and difficulties on every side, perseverance can see us through. Perseverance is so rare, yet so necessary. It is so foreign to our own human nature, yet, it is demanded of us every day. To persevere is to endure, and to do so with a steadfast faith and patience. To persevere, to suffer long, is to receive and live by the gift of grace from above; for perseverance is a gift of God, and a gift from God.

The Race Marked Out for Us

The author of the book of Hebrews writes in beautiful imagery of the race marked out for us. We know, as Christ-followers, that not all races marked out are the same. The obstacles we may face in our race may be quite different from what other Christ-followers face. In reading these words, I get a strong sense that each race run is quite personal. Each race, both the marking out, and the running thereof, is intimate and deeply connected to our personal relationship with Christ Jesus.

For the athletes who compete at the Olympic Games, perseverance is a physical practice. Each day, as an athlete trains, he or she learns how to endure, how to suffer-long, through the resistance the body is going through in order to improve and achieve new personal bests. The daily practice is gradual and can take years to master. Only through surrendering to the work that must be done can the athlete excel.

As Christ-followers, we know that perseverance is both a physical practice and a spiritual gift from God. Christ in us is that gift and the source of our true ability to suffer-long and endure. Christ Jesus bears the fruit in us. He does so for his good pleasure. Yet, we are invited to participate with him each day to yield, to let, and to allow his work in us to be done. We accept, with a peaceful mindset of non-resistance, life as it comes to us. We accept the race that has been marked out for us, and we do so with a deep humility, faith and trust in him.

How do we persevere? Simply stated, we persevere through Christ Jesus. We do so as we are reminded in an ancient poem of St. Patrick: Christ with me; Christ before me; Christ behind me; Christ in me; Christ beneath me; Christ above me; Christ on my right; Christ on my left; Christ when I lie down; Christ when I rise up; Christ in the heart of every man – The Breastplate of St. Patrick

The imagery this ancient poem conjures for me is that of a man praying just before a battle. Lined up on his side of the field, asking God for protection and favor before a fight, his eyes and heart look to heaven for help. The imagery of the poem also conjures a runner just before a race. As that runner stands behind a white starting line, ready to sprint off at the sound of a starter’s gun, he or she offers a prayer for help. Both the runner and the warrior are surrendered to what is, and to what will come. Both look to their Lord and Savior for the ability to endure, to suffer-long, and to persevere. Neither knows what may come.

In my younger years, I would pray just before running a race. I remember being afraid. I knew the race to come would be long, and would be painful. No matter how much training I’d done leading up to that point in time, I knew to achieve a better result than I’d run before was going to hurt. I’d have to push harder and dig deeper than I ever had before. There would be a price to pay. At least, that’s what my mind would tell me.

But then there were times when running the race felt quite different. I’d be well into a run and suddenly think, wow, I feel great! I’m barely breathing heavily and my arms and legs aren’t even tired. I could have run all day. To quote the Scottish Olympian from the movie, Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell, when I ran, I felt his pleasure. It may have been the perfect intersection of all the training with God’s gift of grace pushing me along. Either way, I knew I was about to post a really good time. In those moments, the running was an easy joy. The race marked out for me felt effortless.

Some days of our lives can feel this way – just effortless. Some days of our lives can feel quite the opposite – like everything hurts, and the work we need to do just seems like nothing but an uphill battle. We step to the line of life each day knowing both our personal practices and the grace of God’s gift within us. Yet, the outcome of any given day may never be the same. We trust and suffer-long. We look to heaven in faith and persevere. At times, the race marked out for us can lead us to feel as if we are alone. We can feel as though no one else understand what we are suffering through and enduring. Perhaps what we are enduring is loneliness itself. We can wonder where Christ Jesus is when the battle or the race seems to be too long.

Humanly, we can so easily forget the cloud of cheering and supportive witnesses that surround us on every side. We can be readily hindered by unrelenting doubt and fear. Never-mind setting new personal bests; we are just trying to get through our day. The running of the race marked out for us may at times feel too dark, too lonely, and too hard for us to continue.

As the poem, The Breastplate of St. Patrick reminds and encourages us, Christ is on our every side. Christ Jesus is before and behind us. He is above and beneath us. Christ Jesus is on our right side and on our left; he is there when we go to sleep at night, and he is there when we wake in the morning. Most importantly, Christ Jesus is with us and for us, and in the hearts of all of us. We rest in this. We take comfort in, have hope in and trust in him.

As we watch the stories unfold during the two weeks of the summer Olympic Games, we can remember. We remember that our life’s race is both physical and spiritual. We remember that the race marked out for us is deeply personal, and we do not run alone. We are called to preserve, to suffer-long in this life, yet, Christ Jesus perseveres and suffers-long with us. Christ Jesus ran his race victoriously during his human lifetime here on earth. As our risen Lord and Master, he has won the race for us all. As such, we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, those cheering and supporting us, who have gone before. In an arena and spiritual community such as this, with Christ Jesus at its center, how can we not succeed? We have succeeded already in him.

In his victorious name we persevere together,

Ed Dunn

Vice President, Plain Truth Ministries

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