Hebrews 12:3, ‘For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.’
‘you will not grow weary and lose heart.’ ‘Do not be discouraged and give up’. The Hebrews writer is talking about running a race, which is set before us. We all started our race well and we are in this process. Why did the Holy Spirit say here, ‘do not grow weary and lose heart’? In our Christian journey, when we are running the race, we see that, many things come in our lives – ‘Like anxiety, burden, fear of something, trials, sufferings, problems, struggle against the sin, internal struggle between the flesh and the spirit’ – We get discouraged and start to slow down in our race. This is the reason, the Holy Spirit is saying, ‘do not grow weary, do not be discouraged’ .When we overcome these things which come on our way, do not give up! We need to rise up and run the race!
We know about the cars running on the road –‘on the fast lane, middle lane and the slow lane’. We see that the car which was running on the fast lane, after sometime, it runs in the slow lane. Some cars are at standstill. We see like this in the Christendom, the Christians are like these cars, they start well in the fast lane and slowly they slowdown in their race, some Christians, come to stand still, after a long journey. The reason is, they have grown weary and got discouraged in their long Christian journey. So, Let us settle any unrighteousness left in our hearts and have peace and joy in our Lord. We should never drift away from the high calling of our God. We should never get side-tracked from our race of faith . We should never grow weary and lose heart or discouraged and give up! We have a finishing line in our journey and reach God. This is God’s perfect will for us. We need to press on to reach this perfection which Jesus has set before us. Jesus Christ is our forerunner and He will help us in everything in our race. We need to fix our eyes on Jesus and run this race with endurance until the end.
Hebrews 6:11, 12, ‘And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, 12so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.’
Hebrews 3:14, ‘For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end’
We started our Christian journey well, on the fast track, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end, then we become partakers of Christ.
Discouragement is a very serious sin. We need to fight against it and overcome it. If not, this discouragement will slow down our race! Deal with discouragement very seriously in our Christian walk.
2 Corinthians 4:16, ‘Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.’
We should be more concerned about our inner man! Our inner man should be strong day by day!
Psalms 42:1, ‘As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.’
The Psalmist here desires for God and a godly life. Along his way in his journey, he encountered many problems in his life and we see that the other people were asking him, ‘Where is your God?’
V3, ‘My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
We see that there is something that is bothering him in his life but we see his desire for God, his soul is longing for God as the deer is panting for the waters but after sometime, in a discouraged condition, he’s saying,
V5, ‘Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence.’
NLT, V5, ‘Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior’
Discouragement is one side of the coin and the Psalmist is encouraging himself saying, ‘I will put my hope in God and I will praise him again’ – immediately the Psalmist says he has hope in God and is praising God and is overcoming the discouragement – This is the other side of the coin!
Psalms 42:11, ‘Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again— my Savior and my God!’
Psalms 43:5, ‘Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.’
We need to praise God in order to overcome this discouragement!
1 Kings 19:2-4, ‘Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree;’
Elijah, a man of God, had done many miracles and wonders, but got fear, was scared, when this woman, Jezebel, threatened him to kill. He fled and traveled a day’s journey into wilderness and sat under a juniper tree! Many times, we also get scared with the situations at office, from our boss, or with the things we are facing, we get scared and get discouraged. Elijah was also discouraged, v4, ‘.and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
If we are sitting under a juniper tree, sitting with a discouraged heart, then this is not God’s will for us. We see the love of God towards Elijah. God sent His angels and they encouraged him and gave him food and strengthened him. God taught him saying, ‘you are not to sit under this juniper tree but run the race, which is set before you’!
V7-8, ‘The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” 8 So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.’
Rise up and run the race that is set before us, and reach the top of the mountain! Let us press on to reach the perfection, reach the top of the mountain. Overcome the discouraged spirit and let us run this race with endurance!
Micah 7:8-10, ‘Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me. 9I will bear the indignation of the Lord Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, And I will see His righteousness. 10Then my enemy will see, And shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” My eyes will look on her; At that time she will be trampled down Like mire of the streets.’
There should be no room for discouragement or condemnation in our Christian life! Many have fallen but they rose up again and continued their race. The enemy will be put to shame by seeing our Christian life. We should not give any place for devil. God is encouraging us today, though we may fall, we will rise up. We will confess our sin; we will rise up and we will continue our race which God has set before us.
Joshua 1:2, ‘“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.’
V6, V7, V9, V18, in all these verses, God is encouraging Joshua, ‘Be strong and courageous’. Because God knows that Joshua has to conquer many places, fight many battles and has to win all these battles, and when he is doing these, he may get discouraged and lose his heart that is the reason God is encouraging him, ‘be strong and courageous’!
We have to conquer many things in this life, like Joshua and we need to fight a good fight to get a victory.
Joshua 21:44, 45, ‘And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. 45Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.’
God wants to give us also, this perfect peace and rest in our hearts. God is encouraging us, ‘be strong and courageous’.
2 Timothy 4:7, ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;’
May God help us also to fight the good fight of faith to finish our journey!
Psalms 18:29, ‘For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.’
NLT, ‘In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.’
God will give us enough grace to leap over the wall. God will help us, strengthen us to leap over the wall which is before us. He will help us to overcome all the walls, hurdles or mountains which come before us. God is encouraging us ‘do not be discouraged’, ‘do not give up’. Let us not lose heart or give up!
Jeremiah 12:5, ‘“If racing against mere men makes you tired, how will you race against horses? If you stumble and fall on open ground, what will you do in the thickets near the Jordan?’
Our calling is to compete with the horses. God will give us enough strength to fight against all hurdles.
Hebrews 10:39, ‘But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.’
We have to overcome with faith in God.
Hebrews 12:3, ‘Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up’
V12, 13, ‘So take a new grip with your tired hands and strengthen your weak knees. 13Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong.’
Make straight path for your feet, anything which is hindering us or slowing us down, let us set it right; then only God will give us strength. We can run this race, looking unto Jesus. Keeping our eyes fixed on Him to finish our race. Never give up. Do not grow weary or discouraged. May God help us to fulfill this in our lives,
May God help us.
