‘I have run the great race, I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.’ Few of us could speak so confidently about our days on earth. But Paul was not like the rest of us. Mischance and setback did not come his way by peradventure. He was targeted by those who saw him as a traitor, an untrustworthy innovator, a harum-scarum of a man who had kicked over the traces and was a threat to the established order. He was set upon, hunted down, stoned and generally made unwelcome. But he persisted in his chosen course. He shrugged aside the contumely. He got on with what he saw as his appointed task.
If there is one characteristic that has our undying respect it is hard work. Next to it comes fortitude, seeing something through. Uncongenial it may be, unrewarding even, but thanks to men and women who have conquered weariness, discouragement and a myriad petty obstacles we enjoy the benefits that have been won for us by those who have endured to the end. We can hardly do less with our small concerns. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews (could it possibly have been Priscilla?) piled up the examples and gave us the supreme example of fortitude in the opening verses of chapter 12.
Grief, loss, disappointment come our way. They are part of the terms and conditions on which we live our lives on planet earth. They are part of the raw material we have to work with. They are pressing upon us at the present time. We confront another lockdown. We are not called upon to be heroic. Rather it is our place to be dogged, to persevere, to keep the faith that has a forward aspect – hope – and see things through to the end. We could not look for a higher calling – unless it is what Peter described as a calling out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2.9).
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