So there’s this verse that is pretty much haunting me. It’s Hebrews 12:1-2:
“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, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith. For the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God”
All throughout the race, this verse has come up again and again. Obviously I can relate to it because it’s about running a race, and I’m on the World Race (deep right?). But it really has been an encouragement to me to keep persevering throughout this year.
But lately God has used it to speak to me in a specific way. God does this funny thing when He’s trying to teach me something. He shows me the same verse in different books, people, etc- over and over again until my little brain gets the memo.
They call months 6, 7, 8 the “middle of the race slump”, and I’ve definitely felt that. Lately I’ve felt like I’ve been losing my passion for ministry, and kind of losing the excitement I once had about this whole World Race thing.
I recently read Jennie Allen’s book “Restless” (which is awesome, might I add). And this part hit me real gooooood:
“Nothing kills passion more than the fear of man, whether a quest for approval or nagging comparison. If we are running our race and our eyes are darting back and forth, we will not see the need around us. Hebrews 12:2 is stern about this. You want to run this race? You fix your eyes on Jesus”. (Restless, pg 125)
(I told you Hebrews 12:1-2 is haunting me.)
Hellooooo wake up call, thank ya Lord!
This just made me realize that recently I’ve been frustrated with my world race experience because I’ve been comparing. Comparing my race to other’s, even comparing the way I spend time with Jesus with others’.
Hebrews doesn’t say, “Hey! Run your race and live your life, and be sure to look around at everyone else to see how they’re doing this whole life thing”.
Nope. It says, hey you- fix your eyes on JESUS.
If I want to finish this race strong, I need to stop looking around at others. I need to stop my eyes from darting back and forth and lock eyes with my God. I need to lock eyes with Jesus and run straight to Him.
I thought wow, God thanks for that. I thought He had already taught me a ton through this quote in the book, but sure enough this little Hebrews nugget of wisdom came up again just a few days after I read this in my book.
The other day, our team had a time of prayer for one another. We prayed for one person at a time, and spoke encouraging words over them if we felt God wanted to say something specifically for them.
At this point I hadn’t told any of my teammates about what God was teaching me in Hebrews 12. Then, when my team was praying for me, one of my teammates said,
“Alysse, I feel like God is giving me the word focus for you. It’s like there are a bunch of different glasses, and you keep trying on all these different glasses, to see clearly. And He’s saying stop, quit trying all these different perspectives, and just lock eyes with me. Focus on me.”
Boom. Okay, God. I get it.
This isn’t the first time on the race that God’s been teaching me to stop comparing. You may have heard “comparison is the thief of joy”. And seriously, it is! I am realizing that so many times in my life, I compare my spiritual walk, my appearance, my career path, or whatever with others. What a waste of time! God knew what he was doing when he made us all different. We all have different ways of hearing God. We all have different passions, different gifts.
Lets stop focusing on each other and just focus on Jesus!
As I go into Albania in a few days, I will be entering the last four months of my race. (Time flies!).
I want to finish running my (world) race strong, focusing on Jesus and no one else. I want to lock eyes with Jesus and run straight to Him and all He has for me. I don’t want to miss out on anything because I’m busy looking at everybody else.
SO, I encourage you too, to lock eyes with Jesus and run straight towards him. Stop looking around, stop comparing, stop worrying about what others will think and just run to Him.
If you have a dream, go for it. Don’t worry about what people will say. Focus on Jesus and everything else will fall into place. God has so much planned for your life. He wants to use you in huge ways. Trust him, be open to Him, and let Him lead you!
