By Bryan Wolfmueller
Christians have need of endurance: that mix of courage and patience that presses on to the end. We are tempted to weariness. Our flesh is discouraged.
Thanks be to God, the Scriptures are full of passages that spur us on to faithful endurance. The Bible sets the joy of the Gospel, the hope of eternal life, and the strength of the Holy Spirit before our weak and weary hearts. The Bible encourages us on the way. Through the prophet Isaiah, the Lord says: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
The Lord undoes our fear and dismay. “Fear not.” Why? The Lord promises, “I am with you.”
“Be not dismayed,” He commands. And why not? “I am your God.” To these promises He adds three more: “I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you.” Our endurance is His work, as we cling to His precious promises.
Or consider Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen” (2 Cor. 4:16–18).
The glory of eternal life is at work in us. We don’t see it, but the wasting away of our outer self is helping bring it to the surface. All the afflictions of this life are preparing us for the untold splendor of the life to come.
King David rallies us like spiritual warriors: “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 31:24).
Perhaps the greatest call to endurance is Hebrews 12:1–3. It begins not with our endurance, but with the endurance of Jesus. For us, He endured the suffering and the shame of the cross. This is a beautiful encouragement.
The picture is of a long-distance race — imagine a marathon or a cross-country meet. You are running, out on the path, up and down the hills, running, running, staggering, and running some more, one foot after the other, dragging yourself forward.
This is the kind of race that ends in a stadium filled with cheering fans. The last lap is on the track, but that feels miles away. You are exhausted, tired, thirsty, ready to give up.
But something happens, a noise. You hear the faint sound of cheering. With each step it gets a little louder. It’s the crowd in the stadium, and you think, “I must be close. The finish line is around the corner.” You are encouraged. You keep running. Drawn toward the finish.
“And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long, Steals on the ear the distant triumph song, And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong” (LSB 677:5).
Then you see the stadium, and then the crowd sees you: Their cheering swells, roaring, pushing you forward. You run through the shadow of the stadium onto the track, and you start to see the faces of the people in the crowd, all the people who have gone to heaven before you. There are your grandparents, cheering. There is your parent, your brother, your friend, your child, all there, all shouting for you, “You can make it. We did.” There is the pastor that baptized you, there are your great-great-grandparents that you’ve never met, there are some of the old theologians that you’ve seen in the pictures: Walther, Chemnitz, Luther, Augustine, Cyril, all urging you forward. “Be strong! Be courageous!” There are the apostles. Peter shouts, “The end is near.” Paul, “Finish the race. Keep the faith.” John, “The one who endures to the end will be saved.”
You turn the corner and see the finish line. Jesus is standing there, looking straight at you, arms stretched out. His face is radiant, and you’ve forgotten that you are tired. You’re sprinting now, ready to collapse across the finish line into the hands of your Savior.
This is the encouragement of Hebrews 12:1–3:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
The saints are cheering. Jesus is waiting. We are running with endurance, running with courage and patience. The finish line is close. The Finisher of our faith is by our side. Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest.
