The In Between

“Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.”

I love watching endurance sports such as marathons, triathlon, etc.. It’s thrilling to see men and women who have conditioned and trained their bodies to go the distance for a particular sport. At the beginning of the race you have the crowd cheering you on and the cameras capturing the excitement and anticipation of who will win. At the end of the race there are those who are waiting for the winner to arrive who crosses that finish line and is rewarded, admired, and who feels a great sense of not only fatigue but accomplishment. But there is one part of the race that is not all that thrilling or captivating. It’s in between the start and the finish. That is where the athlete is out on the open stretch where the glory of the start has died away and the goal is too far away to be inspired by its sight. It’s that tedious in between when the commitment must be resolved or forsaken.

This is life’s journey all the way through. A young person might hear a great musician and decide to pursue a musical career. Years later he or she is in the spot light receiving fame and the praise of the crowds. But rarely do you hear about the years spent in the in between when that person was in the drab years of lessons and hours of practice, when they were so tempted to give up and settle for something less than the original ideal.

Great beginnings and noble resolutions are not lacking in our generation. And for the follower of Christ we all remember the newness and excitement of starting our walk with God and the bright path that lay ahead. But it is on the intermediate, the in between stretch, where the rosy start fades into long desert marches and the ordinaries of life test our souls. But it is here that we need to know how to keep that heavenly vision in view and the inner resolve alive. Our feet may be tired and sore, our hearts may be hurting because the path has had its unexpected sorrows. And yet for this place, we need God’s remedy for the in between.

Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed-that exhilarating finish in and with God- he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame,whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God…That will shoot adrenaline into your souls”.  Heb 12:2,3 Message

Can we endure the in between with a song within and a smile without? I am learning and the finish line is not too far away!