Digging Deeper – November 22, 2023
For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
James 5:10 (NLT)
OTHER PEOPLE CAN DO IT
I remember the summer before junior high school like it was yesterday. I remember that I was highly anxious about walking the halls of McKinley Jr. High – and not anxious in a good way. How will I find my classes? Who will I be in class with? Will people make fun of my huge ears? (They weren’t abnormally large, but I was convinced they were). But even as I was facing all these fears, I remember going over the same mantra in my head. Over and over, as I fell asleep that August with 7th grade looming in my future, I would repeat, “Other people have made it through this, and I can too.” I leaned into the idea that no matter how hard it would be, if other people could do it, I could make it through, too.
I find myself repeating that idea over and over in my life. When faced with difficult circumstances, I return to that 7th-grade reassurance, “Other people did it, so I can too.”
I think that is why the writer of Hebrews in Chapter 11 recounts the hall of famers in the Old Testament. He brings out all the big names, from Abel to Abraham and Moses to Samson. Then, the writer shares how each lived by faith. They all encountered stumbling blocks, but they kept moving forward, and they gave testimony to what God can do in the lives of everyday, flawed humans.
Then comes the opening of Chapter 12: 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, 2 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).
He is saying all those others made it, and you can too. So, don’t give up. I don’t know what is looming over your life or what struggle you are facing, but I know that the testimony of scripture is that we can have faith that God is doing something, and because of that, we can have “patience in suffering,” even when we don’t know what is coming next.
Chris Boggess is the Next Generation/Family Pastor at NorthStar Church. He grew up in St. Albans, West Virginia, and still cheers for the Mountaineers. He and his wife, Heather, have two grown children and one granddaughter.