Running with Patience?

Hebrews 12:1 calls us to “…run with patience the race that is set before us,…”
In examining the translation closely, we find other meanings for the word for “patience,”
namely -- endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, and perseverance.

The idea of patience stands in the minds of most of us as a simple “waiting,” “marking time” or “standing by.” Yet, to couple the thoughts of running a race with those ideas of static inaction, we find they do not fit together at all. Our call to run the race of faith is to be about the constant pursuit of that “high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” It is no mission for the fainthearted. It does require “waiting on the Lord” but not in the sense of the passage of time, but rather in the sense of being ready to serve our Lord at every instant.

“To wait upon the Lord” in the King James Version language sense is to take the Old English meaning and apply it ….we are to be “waiting on” in the sense of service and to meet the needs presented to us in response to God’s directives and call. Waiting “for” something is to anticipate a future event and many Christians are spending their days waiting for the Lord’s return, all the while neglecting to be “waiting on” the Lord’s bidding…to teach, to preach, to make disciples, to heal, to cast out evil spirits, to share love, to show kindness, to demonstrate compassion, and to be peacemakers. As long as we wait…without waiting upon the Spirit of God, we will do nothing. With God, nothing will be impossible as He leads. Patience is not about standing around…it is about running with God.