There is something about being in a room of people who have already gone where you are attempting to go, being able to talk with and glean from them. It has a way of giving you confidence and hope, an inner strength, that would serve to buoy you as you set out on your journey, regardless of what it is. Today, you can even research information and receive insight online from those who would be “experts” in whatever your undertaking would be. I remember many years back now, we set out to take our four kids to Disney World. Not knowing the first thing about the many parks (apart from the main park itself, having been to Disneyland many times), and how best to enjoy our time there, we began our research seeking input from those who had “been there, done that” in all things Disney World. We were AMAZED at the vast amount of information available, including down-to-the-minute itineraries for each day based on the number of days you would be there, what days are the best to visit each of the parks, what rides to head to first, how to use a FASTPASS effectively, being sure as a larger family we would all wear the same color t-shirts each day for keeping track of each other, and tying a colorful bandana around our stroller so as to be able to find it amidst the myriads of other strollers at those convenient stroller “parking lot” areas. We came away from our research with our heads swimming and convinced that this Disney thing was a cult!!!  But I digress… let’s get back to the whole being able to talk to those who have gone before you thought!

Looking closely at the opening of the first three verses of Hebrews 12, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses… ,” any good Bible student would first be drawn to the first word “therefore” and, recite it with me now, when you see ‘therefore” in the Bible go looking to find out what it is there for! Let me do the work for you – the “therefore” of refers back to what is written in Hebrews 11, known to us as the “Hall of Faith” chapter. It is chock-full of brief stories and insights into lives of those who walked before us in unfettered faith in God; who “through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith…” (Hebrews 11:33-39a)

Faced with the struggles of walking with this disease the Lord has sovereignly allowed into my life and body, it would be easy to just give up, sit down, and wait for the inevitable to come. I think many who face the struggles this life can bring can identify with me in that. But, in those moments of weakness, I am reminded of all those who have gone before me, not just here in Hebrews 11 but the many throughout my life in ministry who I have seen walk fully abandoned to faith. Each of those who flood my memory lived knowing, regardless of the circumstances life had brought their way, they had a God who loved them and promised to use even the darkest of trials for His glory and their good. As I reflect on their witness of faith, I can genuinely say they “obtained a good testimony” before all, in and through their lives. They stand as part of the “cloud of witnesses” I look to and learn from as I continue in my journey, having my faith strengthened through their witness and finding a semblance of hope in the uncertainty. The Lord, who knows every aspect of my future, has graciously provided for me a memory full of hospital bedsides, emergency rooms, and grave sides; times of anguish and heartbreak as individuals were confronted with the consequences that sin has brought into this world; times of people being confronted, like me, with a fearful diagnosis; situations and circumstances of utter despair and hopelessness. In all of those scenes, and many others, I find and am reminded of people who held fast to their faith. Who, beyond their own ability, walked in a faith that screams out in testimony to me… “Press on, Steve.. the Lord loves you… He has a plan and a purpose, even if you can’t see it… hold fast to Jesus and don’t let go… He is using this to His glory and for your, and others, good…”

I continue to learn more and more each day, as I reflect on these “experts” of faith and hold fast to the lessons I reap from their testimony and witness, that the journey the Lord has me on is not about me but, rather, about Him and others. In that, through the faith-filled examples of those who have gone before me, my greatest desire and hope is in some way I, too, can join the ranks of those who obtain a good testimony of faith through the “fire.” My spirit longs to be a part of the “cloud of witnesses” in the lives of others who are looking for a little hope, a little strength, a little more faith for the journey they are on. I’d like to say I never waver in that desire and hope, but that would be a lie. There have been countless times as I’ve journeyed along this road I am walking, a road that must be paved in faith, that my flesh is weak and seeks to undermine my only solid foundation – faith in Christ. It is in those moments I fight to reflect back on my “witnesses” and strive to recall to memory again what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” This verse stands as a challenge to me, prodding me to remember that as I have found comfort in the Lord, and in the witness of those who have gone before me through the crucible of trial, I have a responsibility before the Lord to share the comfort that comes through walking in faith with Him through the struggle.

For those of you who find yourself being refined in the crucible, know that the Lord loves you beyond your ability to comprehend and He truly has a purpose for the pain and struggle, the hurt and hardship, the emotion and tears of it all, even if right now you cannot see or fathom what that could possibly be. Hold fast to Him in faith, knowing He is grafting you into the “cloud of witnesses” who visibly enter in and display the kingdom of God through tribulation, just as Paul and Barnabas exhorted the believers in Acts 14. Know that He will surely use your testimony of faith to encourage others. We all have a race to run, the course of which is set by the Lord Himself, full of hurdles and hardships. May we “run with endurance the race that is set before us” in simple faith, believing beyond belief in the God who loves us and will never give us more than we are able to bear, allowing Him to continue His refining work in us that we would in a greater way reflect the radiance of His love and grace, and seeking His incomprehensible wisdom in how to run in such a way as to bring Him glory, just as those who set before us a witness to follow have done.

Until next time… reflect Christ in your race!