Bottoms Up
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, he who is coming will come, and will not delay. Hebrews 10:36-37 NASB
Endurance – The marathon. Some enter to win. Most enter to finish. That’s what it’s like for us. Followers of Yeshua HaMashiach do not enter to win. They enter to finish – together. My brothers and sisters must cross the line with me. I can’t cross without them because my job is to make sure they reach the destination too. This is no tortoise and hare fable. This is real. This is leading from behind. This is climbing the ladder to the bottom.
The Greek word hupomone means “to bear up under, to persevere.” But its constituent parts tell us something important. They are hupo (under) and meno (to remain). Endurance is remaining under. It is the choice to stay with the group, to remain a servant to all, to lead by being at the rear, to carry every straggler. Endurance is symbolized in washing feet, in humbling myself so that others may shine. Endurance is choosing to decrease so that He may increase.
The secret of a life delightful to God and a blessing to others is patience. Waiting for God is always the answer because waiting requires the sublimation of my desire to take charge. The yetzer ha’ra has a voracious appetite for immediate satisfaction. Waiting for God starves that appetite. If I am willing to live on kairos time, I will not be disappointed. I will be at the finish line with you and we will celebrate victory together. What we need more than anything else is a dieting plan for desires and waiting is critical to such a plan. Some time ago we noticed that the rabbis taught only those who wait on the Lord will be renewed. The man who surges ahead, who combats every obstacle with self-determination, who seeks victory no matter what is the man who has not yet conquered the power of the yetzer ha’ra. Such a man turns desire into acquisition energy rather than discovering the calm reserve of knowing God’s provision. Such a man struggles to remain above it all. He has yet to find the delight of waiting in the basement.
“When you have done the will of God,” says the author. Doing that will is intertwined with hupomone. One cannot do the will of God without endurance. Those “blessed” by lives without struggles have been shortchanged. Perhaps God in His infinite grace knew that they could not endure, but for most of us, the road is long and arduous. For good reason. That long road is the avenue of doing His will.
Of course, the length of the road is relative, isn’t it? “Yet in a very little while” quotes the author from Habakkuk. What distance is a marathon compared to circling the earth? Look up from your plodding feet. The horizon is still far away and the road will end before you get there. The victory celebration will come before you reach the curvature of the earth.
Topical Index: endurance, hupomone, meno, Hebrews 10:36-37
Thank you so much Skip for this encouraging true word. I agree with every word written. I thank our Avinu Malkeinu for the renewed strength and giving me the acceptance of my own journey. The loneliness is often overwelming but it builds spiritual muscle.
Shalom Shalom!
Romans 5:9 Therefore, since we have now come to be considered righteous by means of his bloody sacrificial death, how much more will we be delivered through him from the anger of God’s judgment! 10 For if we were reconciled with God through his Son’s death when we were enemies, how much more will we be delivered by his life, now that we are reconciled! 11 And not only will we be delivered in the future, but we are boasting about God right now, because he has acted through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, through whom we have already received that reconciliation.
Amen Ian!- reconciled to G-d by His death, (thank you for the cross LORD!) and now delivered by His endless life- we serve a risen Savior!- Yes, and Amen- we are boasting about G-d right now- here, today, G-d is in the mix and in the midst- with us – Always!- This is our Immanu’-El (G-d with us).
Another affirmation and confirmation- I too, become weary along the way. We (every one of us) are made of the same material- flesh, bones and blood. We are human. We are Adam (and Eve!). What race am I?- human. Frail and fragile, human. I am just a man.
Just a man? or am I now – a “just” man?
Romans 8:28-30
“We know that in everything (everything?) G-d works for good with those who love Him, (do you love Him?) who are (the) called according to His purpose. (YHWH has a plan) For those whom He foreknew (G-d does know the end from the beginning!) He also predestined (in His infinite wisdom) to be conformed (a word of heat and pressure!- ouch!) to the image of His Son, in order that He might be the first-born among many brethren. (good morning to many brothers and sisters!- children of our Father) And those whom He predestined He also called; (by name!) and those whom He called He also justified; (just as if I’d never sinned!) and those whom He justified He also glorified.
G-d started it, G-d is perfecting it, and what G-d starts- He will finish to His satisfaction. This whole love affair is His. For G-d So loved the world (yes, the world) He gave..- When you care enough to send the very Best..
Oh what a Savior!! “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all–how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8.32)
Once I was straying in sin’s dark valley,
No hope within could I see,
But up in Heaven there is a Savior,
who saved a poor lost soul like me,
O what a Savior, O Hallelujah!
His heart was broken on Calvary,
His hands were nail scarred,
His side was riven,
He gave His life-blood for even me.
He left the Father with all His riches,
With calmness sweet and serene,
Came down from Heaven and gave His life-blood,
To make the vilest sinner clean.
O what a Savior, O hallelujah!
His heart was broken on Calvary,
His hands were nail scarred,
His side was riven,
He gave His life-blood for even me.
Death’s chilly waters I’ll soon be crossing,
His hand will lead me safe o’re,
I’ll join the chorus in that great city,
And sing up there forever more.
O what a Savior, O hallelujah!
His heart was broken on Calvary,
His hands were nail scarred,
His side was riven,
He gave His life-blood for even me.
“They enter to finish – together”
AMEN!!
Skip,
You should be given the honorary title of “Coach.”
Your daily words of truth, encouragement and constant challenge are helping many of us persevere to that finish line.
It’s going to be a great day as we look around and see how many of us journeyed together to do His will…to reach that goal…and, hear those words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
Skip – Thanks for the reminder that the plodder wins as well.