Run With Patience

It's funny how you can read a well-known passage, only to have a new thought pop up. I love it when that happens.

Today's reading was Hebrews, Chapter 11, sometimes called The Hall of Faith. It lists people who, against all odds, "kept the faith" to gain an eternal crown of righteousness.

In the next chapter, Paul wrote of a race to be run with endurance. It was a marathon, not a sprint.

If you say, "Runners," I think speed. That's why "run with patience" caught my attention. People usually say, "Slow down!" when they mean stop rushing around and messing things up. It's another way of saying, "Be patient."

Each of us is running our own marathon. Paul wrote to Timothy that he had "finished his race, kept the faith, and was looking forward to receiving a crown of righteousness" (2 Timothy 4:7-8, NKJV).

He was slowed down plenty of times. His short list included shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonment, hunger, sleeplessness, and more (2 Corinthians 11:24-28, NKJV).

In our day, we have been slowed down by a different challenge: COVID-19. Instead of dashing off to work, school or church, we've had to slow down. For some that meant working at home, for others loss of a job, or lack of childcare. 

As we shelter in place and listen to endless reminders for social distancing and healthcare, there's no doubt about it---we are slowed down!

Are you setting an example of running with patience? Are you enduring your challenges without complaint? Are you creatively using your abilities to endure this race with calmness and self-control?

Consider the example of wagon-train pioneers plodding slowly westward. They had no control over the weather or speed of their journey. Their only control, day after day, was self-control . . . their heart set on perseverance to the end. 

Our worldwide pandemic has no end in sight. Like the pioneers, our only control is self-control. It's a daily challenge, but let's run with patience and stay the course.