When was the last time you did something hard? I mean really hard? “I’m not sure I’m going to make it through this” hard? What was the motivation to keep going?
I’ve been through many hard things. I almost died after childbirth. I’ve been wrongly sued by a large Christian organization. I’ve been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. These just to name a few hardships I’ve had in my life. What kept me going? My faith in Jesus. It didn’t come easily. A lot of patient endurance was needed, but I’ve come through those hardships, and because of those hardships, I have faith that I will make it through any others that come my way. And you can have that kind of faith, too.
“The Testing of Your Faith Produces Steadfastness”
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4 (ESV)
Steadfastness, or patience, in the original Greek is an active verb, meaning that we don’t wait on the Lord by sitting idly by. Steadfastness is acted upon by working hard through whatever lays in our path, much like one would train for a marathon. You don’t just get up one day and decide you are going to run a marathon without having trained first. No! If you did, you would most likely fail. Depending on what kind of running shape you are in, you need at least three months of training to get in shape to run 26.2 miles. While I’ve never run a marathon (and unless the Lord leads me, I don’t plan to), I have done a few half marathons. In my opinion, they are just as much of a challenge.
My last half marathon was in March of 2024. I had been out with a five-month injury when I started to train, so I basically was starting from no training. I had four months to train and the process was a challenge. Not only is it physically demanding, but it takes time to do a long run every week, which for me was up to three hours.
During some training runs I ended up walking off and on through the last few miles because I just didn’t have the energy to keep going. I would talk myself through it, literally out loud, “Okay, Beth, run to that next tree. Good. Now walk to that shadow up there. Now run to that post…” and so on. It was on those days that I finished and felt defeated. But there were other runs where I really had a good amount of energy and was able to run hard which was so satisfying when I finished those training sessions.
Not only do you have to log miles when you are training, but you have to cross-train (like biking or swimming) and strength train in order to continue to develop your fitness but also to prevent injury. All that to say, a lot goes into training for a long race like a marathon or a half-marathon. So, when God asks you to wait on him, he’s not asking you to sit idly by, but to take up his work as he works through whatever it is you are waiting on.
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:58 (ESV)
There will be a reward at the outcome of whatever you are acting patiently for. You need to trust him that your labor is not in vain.
“And Let Steadfastness Have its Full Effect”
There’s little as satisfying as reaching a goal you have worked hard for, like running a marathon, or getting that promotion, or birthing a child. Each of these things you have to prepare for. You have to make a plan to get you to the end goal. But what is the full effect of our faith when we are patient? We are drawn closer to Jesus. And isn’t that the goal of the Christian faith? To be in a perfect relationship with Jesus?
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:1-5 (ESV)
By engaging in perseverance, or endurance, we gain the hope of the glory of God. Allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us and guide us draws us deeper into a relationship with our Father, and the hope of our salvation through Jesus Christ. That hope is the “full effect” that James 1:4 talks about.
Running the “Race of Faith”
So what does it look like to “run the race of faith”?
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV)
First, we must turn to Jesus and repent from our sins. We must, “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely.” Running is so much more arduous if you’re carrying a weight along with you. Sin will weigh you down and distract you from the ultimate prize–a life in deep relationship with your savior.
Repentance happens at our conversion into our relationship with Jesus, but it should also be a daily practice. Bill Bright, founder of Cru, called this spiritual breathing, or regularly breathing out the bad (surrendering your sin) and breathing in the good (receiving the Holy Spirit).
Next, we must pursue righteousness in all we do. We must “run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.
1 Corinthians 9:24 (ESV)
This is not about having good works as a means of salvation. This is about already having salvation, and through that gift, allowing God’s Spirit to do good works through you.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Galatians 5:16-17 (ESV)
When you allow God’s Spirit to fill you and reign in your life, righteousness follows suit and the Holy Spirit’s work becomes evident in your life.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23a (ESV)
What does the fruit of the Spirit look like when you live it out? The fruits of the Spirit look a lot like works, but the motivation is different. When we’re motivated by the reward of good works, we operate in the flesh and will become frustrated, and often disappointed at the outcome. When we’re motivated by the holy pursuit of righteousness, we operate in the Holy Spirit and the results will be both personally fulfilling, but also God-glorifying.
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 2:14-17 (ESV)
So, in order to run the race of faith, we must pursue righteousness, by surrendering our sin to the Lord, denying our fleshly desires, and operating in the freedom of the Holy Spirit. But, we also must be willing to put in the work of cultivating our relationship with Jesus.
Like I said earlier, you don’t just sign up for a marathon the day before without having ever trained, and then just run 26.2 miles. You must run miles and miles leading up to the race, do the cross-training, and the strength training. Similarly, we need to train our spiritual muscles.
We must develop a lifestyle of studying the Word of God, getting to know him and those of faith who went before us. We must become familiar with what righteousness looks like.
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness
2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)
We also must develop a lifestyle of constant communication with God, that is prayer.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (ESV)
Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in all circumstances. Prayer should be a constant dialogue with God throughout your day. Every thought should be held in a captive audience before the Lord. Every single thought. All the time! This isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone, but is something that takes practice and becomes a habit over time.
These two practices of studying your Bible and being in prayer continually are foundational for when the hard times come. When you’re in that twentieth mile of the marathon and you have 6.2 more miles to go and you have to dig down deep, that’s when the knowledge of scripture and regular communication with your Lord and Savior really become vital to your ability to push through.
Maybe you’re going through something hard right now. Or maybe life is great, but life can never stay great. God gives us hard things to push us out of our self-dependence and draw us closer to him. In James 1 and Romans 5, we saw that God wants us to rejoice in those hardships because it teaches us how to have perseverance, or endurance, in our faith. Prepare yourself for that hard time now by surrendering yourself to Christ, learn to walk in the Holy Spirit, and exercise those muscles of faith through Bible study and prayer. As James 1:4 says, “Let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Bethany Marinelli is an author and speaker out of Orlando, Florida. She also supports her husband, Andrew, in his auto repair business and homeschools her son, Arthur.
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