I’m writing an entire blog over 1 verse, I know, that’s talent right there. In reality this is a blog that discusses the things Abba has been teaching me recently and only after the fact did I realize that this verse summarized it beautifully. With that being said, I will share the verse (so you don’t have to look it up, haha) and then correlate it to the things Father has been leading me through over the last few days/weeks.
“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)
great cloud of witnesses– This is the community of teammates (and squad mates) that I’m living life with this year. They are the ones who see my growth, as well as my failures. More importantly, in this season, they are the individuals who love me enough to call me into greatness. Thank Jesus for teammates who won’t let me wallow in self-pity but call me to be the man of God I am.
throw off everything that hinders– This is the most interesting point to me, and by far the most relevant to what I’ve been going through as of late. What made this so powerful is the realization that things which hinder me are not necessarily sin. As you can see by the next word in the verse, we throw off these hindrances AND “the sin that so easily entangles.” They are separate. The conclusion I drew is that there are “good” things in my life that I have to give up in order to reach the fullness of what God is calling me into. A hindrance is anything that is holding me back from stepping into the plans Papa has for me. No matter how wonderful a thing is, if it becomes a reason to be stagnate, it must be thrown off.
let us run with perseverance the race– If you think about it, perseverance is only required when something is difficult. I don’t need endurance to cash a paycheck. I don’t need to muster my strength to watch my favorite team play ball. I need PERSEVERANCE when I face challenges that are testing my faith (James 1:3). But like the next verse in James says (v. 4): “Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” In essence, the only way to obtain the mature nature that I am supposed to be walking in is by accepting the trials that are allowed in my life, and facing them with an unending perseverance.
the race marked out for us– The last part of this verse needs to be highlighted individually for a reason. This race I am on, both literally (World Race) and figuratively (in life), is MY race. Not in the sense that I am the one in control, because it is most certainly in Daddy’s hands; but it is “my race” in the sense that this is my calling, no one else’s. Everyone has their own race to run. We are all running for the same goal, and we are all in community as the bride of Christ, but His calling is specific to each heart. If your race consists of working a 9 to 5 in corporate America, then in Jesus Name do it for His glory!! If my race includes me traveling the world for a year, then Praise the Lord! It is all His. But we are responsible for what He entrusts to us within our own heart (1 Timothy 6:20).
That is my summery of what Papa is teaching me right now. Abandonment is the end of what I thought I needed, but it is the beginning of everything He wants to do in me. “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) Are my circumstances easy most days? No. But my response to each circumstance holds the key to what I will learn in that situation. In the midst of my most trying days I find out just how worth it this journey is. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)
In Him Who holds my future,
Tanner Hubbard
