One Faithful Step at a Time

Laced Up in Faith

For fourteen years I watched my daughters run cross country.

On dry, 104-degree afternoons in the high-desert of Idaho. On muddy, water-logged fairways in California. And in shin-deep snow in Colorado and Pennsylvania, I have logged a surprising number of my own miles zigzagging across courses to cheer for them—from the time they donned jerseys in sixth grade through their final seasons competing as collegiate graduate students.

And for fourteen years, I had a front-row seat to watch them develop perseverance.

There are no substitutions in cross country races.

No benches.

No timeouts.

No halftime.

For every single runner, it’s an all-out effort from the time the starter’s gun fires until they reach the finish line.

Whether leading the pack or the last to cross, each athlete tenaciously puts one foot in front of the other for as long as it takes to complete the distance.

It requires unrelenting perseverance.

The Messy Middle

With the adrenaline of anticipation coursing through their veins, each runner toes the line, eager to begin. Optimism (and nervousness) abound. After the first few hundred meters, they each settle into their own rhythm.

But somewhere along the way, running at full tilt becomes hard. Breathing labored. Muscles in fiery cramps. The finish line is out of sight, around several bends, and far away. Sustaining the effort—without a sense that the end is near—is the very work of perseverance.

And so it is with following Jesus. Through the many seasons we “run” with Him, we won’t always have the enthusiasm that comes with novelty when He ushers us into a new place, role, or relationship. Nor will we always be able to glimpse the finish line to a difficult era in parenting or work. In this “messy middle,” we have only one choice: to put one foot in front of the other in persistent effort, each stride an act of trust in the One who authors the course.

It’s Not an Individual Sport

Despite the fact that each runner runs and logs his or her own time, the overall meet results are determined by the collective efforts of the individuals: the team. In middle school, I watched my younger daughter surge forward to lead the pack only to discover she didn’t yet have the cardiovascular strength to sustain the pace she started with. As the fatigue set in, competitors blew past. Her discouragement was evident in her countenance and slumped posture.

Then, her older sister—more experienced at pacing herself—caught up. Instead of running by, her older sister slowed to speak some words of encouragement and I watched as those words imbued the younger with new energy, lifting her pace. My daughters ran the rest of their race in lockstep, finishing together.

It’s tempting—especially in America’s culture of “rugged individualism”—to think of our faith walk as a solo effort. That we must persevere through struggle and hardship on merely the tenacity of our individual faith. Though we each run our own races, God speaks in Scripture to the necessity of encouragement from others. We are to draw on the strengthening examples and words of our present and former “teammates” to help us persevere. Likewise, we can offer encouragement to support our fellow sojourners, “[spurring] one another on” (Hebrews 10:24, 25) while remembering that, as part of the Church, Christ’s Body, it is not our individual “win” but our collective strength that matters most.

Course Previews

Cross-country runners often jog the course before the race to get a feel for what’s ahead and to formulate a strategy. My daughters sometimes associated specific mile markers with Scripture to help them remain focused throughout the race. Though we might think knowing how long we’ll have to endure a struggle will help us persevere, that God doesn’t afford us the ability to preview the course of our life.

Instead, we trust in the goodness of the character of our Coach, who cares intimately for us and knows what challenges we can endure on the course He’s marked out for us. And we emulate the example of Jesus, who “endured the cross” because of “the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2) in our eternal and abundant life with Him. With an eye toward that joy, and with His imbuing strength, we, too can persevere.

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—Written by Kristen Holmberg. Used by permission from the author.