Where does the strength come from to finish the race?
A warrior gets hyped into frenzy with the trumpet and battle drum to start the fight. And we can get worked up to an emotional high. You go to a marriage conference and come out ready to tackle every small sin and lay down your life sacrificially. But two weeks later you are back in the same muddy ruts, squabbling and too lazy to go a mile, much less the extra mile.
How many of you have laid out a plan for a project, staying up half the night because you are so excited about the details that you can’t wait to get started. And 2 years later, there the project sits, half done and untouched in months.
So where does the strength come from to finish strong?
When the music stops playing, when you are dead tired, when no one else can see you, when no one else cares anymore. How do you continue?
Our elder brother finished strong, for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the Father in glory.
The Joy of the Lord was his strength, and the Joy of the Lord is your strength. Strength not for a day, not for a year, strength till the end.
It is not an emotional kick.
There is no option to leave the battle against sin or against the attacks of the world half done. You can’t pause and take a time out. If you are relying on your own motivation and own strength you will inevitably burn out. The answer is not grit your teeth and try harder. The answer is rest in the joy of the Lord and then double down.
The current times require steadiness, steadfastness. Some of you are new in this community and maybe riding the excitement of getting plugged in. That is not a bad thing. But remember excitement will ebb and flow, and your calling is to be constant day in and day out and that can only come with eyes fixed on the only one that cannot be moved.
Zach Browning – July 28, 2024
