Have you ever felt like quitting – just throwing in the towel?  I have – several years ago I ran the Black Mountain Marathon and right after I came off the mountain with only five miles to go my legs said to my body “We’re done, you can continue if you want but we’re through!”  It didn’t help that I had just returned a few weeks ago from a month long speaking tour in India (if you’ve ever been to India then you realize how difficult it is to train over there).  Nor did it help that I had already run twenty-one miles with an overall increase in elevation of 3300 feet.  Also my right leg was bruised and bloodied from a fall coming down the mountain trail.  Mentally I had all the reasons to check out but when I had signed up for the race several months ago I was determined to finish (or die trying).

What enables us to persevere when we desperately want to quit?  The writer of Hebrews encourages the Christians to persevere in Hebrews 12:1,

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

The word translated “endurance” literally means to remain under the pressure.  It is often translated ”perseverance” and it conveys the idea of a steadfast determination.  The key to perseverance is in the next verse,

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The key is keeping our eyes on Jesus!  Jesus “endured” the cross for our benefit.  I cannot give up on Him who never gave up on me.  Therefore, the writer encourages us in the next verse,

For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

When I consider, reflect upon, and ponder the suffering that Jesus endured for me suddenly my sufferings are not so bad.  The Apostle Paul gives us an eternal perspective as he writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

What’s a situation you’re facing that’s causing you despair?  Don’t lose heart – fix your eyes on Jesus and consider what He has endured so that you might have abundant life!  Elisabeth Kubler-Ross writes, “People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”  As Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”