Church Family Update - April 7, 2020

A Devotional Thought:

“…and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12:1).

You will often hear marathon runners say that the second half of the race is the last two miles. A marathon is 26.2 miles. Most marathon runners can knock out the first 20 miles without much problem and then things start getting tough. And those last two miles are often harder than all the 24 miles that came before. 

During those last two miles your legs feel like rubber. You need water but you don’t want to stop at the water station because you don’t think you’ll be able to start running again if you stop. And you start to wonder why in the world you ever thought this would be a good idea. So at that point you block everything out and it’s just one foot after the other until you cross that finish line. 

Right now we find ourselves in the middle of a shelter-at-home marathon. But here’s a key difference: In a marathon you know exactly where the finish line is. When I start a marathon I know that in 42,000 steps I’ll be done. But in the case of this pandemic, we don’t know when it will be done. We don’t know how many steps we’ll have to take before this is over. 

So how are we going to get through this? We get a clue if we keep reading the passage from Hebrews: “…and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us: looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1-2). 

I don’t know how long this will stretch on and I am making a point not to speculate on that. What I know is that today I will choose to fix my attention on Jesus and put one foot in front of the other. By God’s grace, looking to Jesus, we will get through this together one day at a time.

As we enter into week four of social isolation (since Monday is my day off, my week begins on Tuesday!) allow me to reiterate my request that if you have any needs or if there is any way that I can serve you, please let me know. That’s what I’m here for. And if you would like to have a pastoral “video-visit” then give me a call and we’ll set up a time to do that. 

May you find joy in the race set before you. 

Be blessed,

Pastor Jason