
By Jennifer Hudson Taylor
Today I'm going to be REAL with you all. There are days when I just want to give up--and what I mean by that is--I would love to stay in bed longer and rest and not go to work. Or take a trip somewhere and do nothing except take long walks and just enjoy the day and smell the roses. Or just write for the day.
The word ENDURANCE came to mind. When I was in high school, I was a long distance runner and learned to pace myself so that I could endure the whole length of the race. Some people would set too fast of a pace and burn out before they finished. Others would set too slow of a pace and could never catch up to place in the top three winning spots.
Life's challenges still hit me this week. My mother had a TIA stroke, my daughter saw her neurologist and received a new diagnosis we're dealing with, her medications were changed that is requiring some adjustment, we had to overcome some issues with school. Life's challenges will not stop just because I have a book to write and neither will yours.
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (Hebrews 12:1)
This verse reminds us that others are watching us as witnesses to how we live our lives and the decisions and choices we make. There will be heavy burdens that weigh us down and sin tempting us to complain and grumble or give up. As Christians, we are called to walk by faith and to endure to the end. Even when we fall, we have to get back up again.
To the best of my ability, I'm stretching my endurance to the finish line. I will endure and so will you. Have you stopped comparing yourself to others? Have you set a pace that works for you and no one else? Think about the ways you can build endurance in your life.