Run the Race with Endurance

Excerpt from "5 Minutes with K.P." in the GFA magazine, Send
"The writer of Hebrews said, "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1). He was very much aware that we are enlisted in a marathon race that can only be won if we have sufficient stamina to last the entire long distance.

As Westerners, we suffer from lack of endurance. Our society is very fluid-people move frequently and surveys show that 50 percent of engaged couples think at least once that if their marriage doesn't work out, they will have a chance on a second one.

It is much easier for us to change, walk away, close our hearts, become bitter or give up instead of enduring for the long haul. It is an uncommon thing to find-in our society and in the Church- the "stickability", permanency, endurance and commitment in the face of difficult that the Bible talks about when it comes to following Jesus.

Especially if you are a young person, I encourage you to embrace the word "endurance." Paul wrote to his young disciple Timothy, "You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Tim 2:23). In other words, "Although enduring hardship is difficult, hold onto it, because through this you will grow and improve on the inside."

The best years of my life in terms of developing as a leader, and the most valuable lessons I learned, happened when I worked with a mission organization in northern India. One of my leaders was next to impossible to deal with. No matter what I did, he found fault with it. It was not easy at all to endure. I felt like I died a thousand deaths. But somehow my upbringing and my instruction about discipleship called for staying on and not giving up." - K.P. Yohannan