As Christians we have been set out to run a race. This isn’t just any old race—it’s a race to receive eternal life in a Kingdom that belongs to the everlasting God. Whether we have recently began our journey in following Christ or have been in training for years, I believe that this race needs to be run with the virtues of patience and faith.

I enjoy long-distance running, but there are always times during my runs that seem impossible to bear. Like when I start to feel the burning in my lungs, my knees that are soar or my face that is heated and entirely red. And I believe sometimes life is filled with similar life pains, trials and weaknesses that become very real along our journey—but God always delivers and gives us strength by His Holy Spirit to overcome.

In patiently enduring the trials, our faith also becomes strengthened because we are waiting upon God’s deliverance. And when our faith is weak, we should take times to read all of God’s promises to deliver and to be there for us. So as we are long-suffering, we can take confidence in the hope of the future before us and get back up when we stumble and carry on with our race towards the Kingdom.

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Keep running the race with patience and faith because God will see you to the finish line—the Kingdom of God.