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A Personal Devotional by Debbie Hall
Breaking Through the Wall
Read Hebrews 12:1-11 PRAY
Introduction
Every ten years, the monks in one monastery are allowed to break their vow of silence and speak two words. Well at one monastery ten years went by and it’s one monks first chance to speak. He thought for a second, looked the head monk in the eye and said, “food bad.” Ten years later, it’s his turn to speak again. He went to the head monk and said, “bed hard.” Well, sure enough, ten years later the big day came again. The man looked the head monk straight in the eye and after a long stare said, “I quit.” “Well, I’m not surprised,” the head monk said, “you’ve been complaining ever since you got here!”
The Sago Mining Tragedy:
“We’re Christian people ourself- but we have got some of us who is right down to saying that we don’t know if there is a Lord anymore- we had a miracle, and it was taken away from us.”
Oh how quickly our faith is shaken when we don’t get the miracle we prayed for
Never mind the fact that 100 % of us die somehow
Never mind the fact that her loved one was in one of the most dangerous jobs imaginable
Never mind the fact that false hope had not been given by God but by an overzealous rescue worker with a cell phone, a likeable governor who wanted it to be true, and a swarming media who has forgotten how to document the truth before it reports something as true
Now my concern is not to challenge the words of the grieving, but to challenge the false theology that says if you believe hard enough, you won’t suffer in this life, that God owes you a miracle
Folks, the New Testament is clear that the nature of this life IS suffering; that due to Satan’s influence sin entered the world and caused death and suffering, and that effects the entire world
For those who believe in Jesus Christ, the reassuring presence of God is given in the midst of this life’s trials; and of course the knowledge that our loved ones who die are with Jesus, free from this life’s suffering
But for each of us there comes a time in our Christian life when we get weary and discouraged
The Christian life is more like a marathon then a sprint
And in marathon’s there comes a time when runners hit the wall and they feel like giving up
So it often is in the Christian life- there can come a time when we hit the wall and have to break through it to finish our race
That’s what today’s passage is about- finishing the race after hitting the wall!
Exposition
Three facts of the Christian life:
1. We each have a race to run V. 1 c
“let us run with endurance the race that is marked our for us.” -Hebrews 12:1c
Now even though we are all running the race, the race marked out for me may be a little different than the one marked out for you
At the end of the book of John we see that Peter wanted to know the particulars of what Jesus would do with John
Jesus essentially told him that the details of John’s race were none of Peter’s business, just as the details of Peter’s race were none of John’ business
Each of us is running the race that God has marked out for us, not our neighbor
Our race might involve more suffering than that of our neighbor, or it may involve less
That also means I can only run my own race- as bad as I want my family members or friends to run, ultimately I can’t make them run their race
But I better keep running my own
2. To run effectively we must lay some things aside V. 1 b
“let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us.” -Hebrews 12:1b
To run the Christian life effectively I have to lay aside two things:
The sin in my life which so easily trips me up
And the weights that hold me back
Now sin we understand, but what are the weights that hold us back?
Weights are the things that may not be sinful in and of themselves, but have become sin to us for any number of different reasons
The New Testament gives us a lot of guidance about such things
If you can’t do something in faith, it is a sin
If something you do might make a weaker brother stumble, its sin
If something you are free to do routinely makes you stumble, it is sin
Let me give you a small example:
A friend of mine in Tennessee was once asked, “preacher, can you get to Heaven if you smoke.” My friend, said, “yeah, faster.”
All the stats say that smoking and drinking will take an average of 20 years off of your life
A weight can be a friendship you have- your friend is not a bad person, you just find yourself doing non-Christian things when you are around them
For me a weight was the kind of music I enjoyed listening to- I gave some of it up 21 years ago and have never returned to it, because for me it was making me stumble in my faith
3. We often get discouraged in our race V. 3b
“lest you become weary and discouraged in your soul.” -Hebrews 12:3b
Now I believe the fact that they were weary and discouraged was precisely the reason Barnabas, or whoever, wrote the book of Hebrews
To encourage them, and us, to finish our race
Jesus is a a Great Savior, Christians have a Great Salvation, and they can make it through life’s Great Struggles
Just as a marathoner can keep going when they hit the wall
“The wall is a legendary thing. Usually encountered around mile 20, it’s the point where the flesh weakens, the spirit sags and the will drains away into a little puddle on the ground. Legs turn to melting Jell-O and breath comes in short, gasping gulps. In all of sports, there is probably nothing as feared, or misunderstood, as this inner barrier where the unprepared run out of steam and can go no further.” -Michael Bane
Now Mr. Bane and others will tell you that the number one thing to do when you feel you have hit the wall is to just keep going!
Well, that advice is easier said than done. And when you think about it in relation to the Christian life, we are seeing a time when many just stop and quit.
Has there ever been a time when so many couples married over 20 years were getting divorced because one couldn’t get past his or her wall?
Has there ever been a time when so many professing Christians were sitting at home on Sundays mad at God or some other Christian and couldn’t get past his or her wall?
Three things to do when the Christian “hits the wall”
1. Remember the cloud of witnesses who “got it done” V. 1 a
“since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” -Hebrews 12:1 a
I love the body of Christ, the cloud of witnesses
In the context he is referring to the saints already in Heaven, mentioned in chapter 11
I also think of saints like Norman Berry and Barbara Spradlin
I think of Nate Saint, and Jim Eliot, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully and Pete Fleming, the Auca 5 who died trying to bring the gospel to the Auca Indians of Ecuador- subject of the upcoming movie “The end of the spear”
Within months after their death, over 1,000 students in Christian colleges applied to mission agencies touched by those 5 witnesses
Think about your race: When it gets hard to run, remember those who have run before, who are cheering you on from the other side of the finish line
2. Keep your eyes on Jesus V. 2
“looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” -Hebrews 12:2
Oh, it helps to consider those who have gone before, but our eyes are especially meant to be focused on our Lord Jesus!
He is the one who began our faith, and He is the one who will see it through
The joy set before Him was you, and me, with Him in Heaven
Jesus, you died for me, I’ll live for You! Repeat that with me!
Oh, our struggle is hard, but to think that the sinless lamb, Jesus, who had never done anything wrong, suffered just because of His pure love for us, that’s a great motivation to keep on going
To stay when you feel like leaving!
To say yes, Lord when you want to say no!
You can do it, because Christ did it for you, and because the cloud of witnesses finished their race!
3. Remember that you’re a child of God V. 5-10
The most remarkable thing about these verses is how they identify us as not servants but sons and daughters of God through faith in Jesus
When you are tempted to be weary and discouraged in the struggle, remember that God allows the struggle to help you grow
Why do we accuse Him of not loving us?
What happens when a human parent meddles every time their child experiences some trouble? They create a brat!
A wise parent knows that there are some things they need to let their child go through as part of the growth process- there are a few times to intervene, but a parent that intervenes too much is hurting their child’s growth, not helping it
God is my Father, and I trust Him more than I do my own parents as I run my race!
Folks, you can tell when someone’s identity is first as a child of God: Mark Brunell Patrick Ramsey; Renaldo Wynn baptized in his pool!
READ George MacDonald’s selection, “The Laird’s Inheritance” p. 25-26
RESULTS of a race well run: FRUIT V. 11
After the AUCA 5 were speared to death, Rachel Saint, Steve Saint’s sister, couldn’t get the AUCA’s off of her mind. She was already a missionary, and already had been praying about working with the AUCA’s. The death of her brother didn’t encourage her to stop wanting to work with the AUCA’s it increased her desire to do so. Part of that was because Rachel Saint had already been trained by godly decision making. When she was Eighteen, a wealthy woman without an heir was fascinated by Rachel. She made her the offer to come and live with her as her assistant, and then she would leave her millions to Rachel when she died. Rachel thanked her, but said her heart was to be a missionary. Is it any wonder that God chose her as part of the team to go to the difficult AUCA’s? Now nearly the whole tribe are Christians!
Her nephew Steve Saint actually also went to the AUCA’s 12 years ago, to work among people who had killed his dad. Listen to this quote:
“When people have asked me through the years if I have been able to forgive the men who were responsible for my father’s death, I have never wavered in my response,” he says. “I always say no. I haven’t forgiven them because I never blamed them. God gave me the ability to see my dad’s dying as part of a divine plan.” Steve Saint, in Today’s Christian
Steve Saint knows how to break through the wall:
Remember the cloud, Keep your eyes on Jesus, and trust your loving Father
Let’s Pray!