"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."
Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
When you are worn out, it is easy to believe you are the only one who finds following Jesus this hard. You look around on Sunday and everyone else seems fine. They sing with ease. They pray with confidence. Their lives look settled while yours feels like it is coming apart. You start to believe no one has faced what you face, and that you will have to figure this out on your own.
Hebrews 12:1 answers that loneliness with one word: surrounded. The verse opens with "therefore," which means the writer is drawing a conclusion from everything in Hebrews 11. That chapter is a long record of people who trusted God through hardship. Notice too that the writer does not say "you" but "we." The race was never meant to be run by one tired believer in isolation.
The great cloud of witnesses is not mainly a crowd watching us but a crowd of lives that testify to us. Many people picture the faithful looking down from heaven, and the picture can feel comforting. But the word itself points to testimony. In the Greek that Hebrews was written in, "witnesses" comes from the same family of words as "commended" in Hebrews 11. God bore witness to their faith, and now their lives bear witness about God. The emphasis is not on what their eyes see of us. It is on what their lives say to us.
Their testimony is believable because they were not perfect people. Genesis 27 tells how Jacob lied to his father to steal his brother's blessing. Judges 6 tells how Gideon asked God for sign after sign before he would trust Him. Hebrews 11:31 names Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho, who was spared because she welcomed the spies sent by God's people. God did not wait for any of them to become impressive. Their lives say the Lord is patient with fearful people and faithful to sinful ones who turn to Him.
The God who kept faith with them is the same God you are trusting now. Joseph was betrayed by his own brothers, and Genesis 50 records him telling them that God intended it for good. Hebrews 11:25 says Moses chose to be mistreated along with God's people rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. The faithful believers you have known add their voices too. Think of someone who kept praying through hardship or trusted God at a graveside. Whatever you are facing, someone in that cloud faced something like it and found God faithful.
Godseekers, you are not the first to run this race, and you are not running it alone. Listen to the testimony of those who ran before you. Read their stories. Let the faithful people in your life speak. Their lives all say the same thing: God was faithful, so keep going.
Prayer
Lord God, I have felt alone, and I have pulled away from Your people as if no one could understand what I am carrying. Forgive me for running as if You had left me. Thank You for every life that tells me You keep Your word, from Abraham and Rahab to the faithful people I have known. Open my ears to their testimony, and let it draw my heart back to You. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Personal Reflection
- Where have you decided that no one could understand what you are carrying, and what has that belief cost you?
- When someone tells you how God carried them, what makes it hard to believe the same God will carry you?
Step of Faith
Send a message today to an older believer you trust. Ask them how God carried them through a hard time. When they reply, listen to their story without turning the conversation to your own struggle.
