Staying Committed; Day 1

There Is A Race Marked Out For You

Don’t quit. Whatever it is for you today, you have the power and the strength to carry on, even if it doesn’t look like dance parties and celebrations. It might look like you showing up in your pajama pants or with tears in your eyes, but you can do it. You can keep going. You can keep showing up – to the blank page, to the piano, to your prayer closet, to your marriage, for your kids, at your job, you fill in the blank.

It’s easy to think that the things we do don’t matter all that much, that our consistency doesn’t make a difference, or that it’s okay to give up and sit down. The truth is that you’re here on purpose. You are not just one of many doing whatever feels right, you are the one that a specific race has been marked out for. Psalm 139 paints a beautiful picture of how God created you so specifically, so particularly, and had all your days marked down before even one of them came to be. You’re not just someone, you’re you – on purpose and for purpose!

What you’re doing matters. We don’t often get to see how or what will come of it while we’re still in the middle, but Galatians 6:9 tells us that we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up. It doesn’t say maybe or that there is a good chance it’ll work out. It’s confirmed: it will come to pass. But take heart, friend. You’re not alone. Philippians 1:6 says that He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion. This not only confirms, again, what’s to come but clarifies that He will carry it on.

The power and the strength you have to endure comes from Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Hebrews 12:2–3 instructs us to look to Jesus, fix our eyes on Him, and consider Him as we run this race. That is how we don’t grow weary. That is how we don’t give up. We turn, again, to the source of our faith.

Consider the area where you feel weary or where you feel like giving up. What if you are uniquely designed and equipped to do exactly that thing, and you are able to do it in a way that no one else can? How might that change the way you approach it each day?

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Philippians 1:6

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 perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Hebrews 12:1‭-‬3