Hebrews 12:1-2a, New Living Translation

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith."

One of the challenges of the Christian life is contentment with the race God has given each of us to run. Many of us struggle with our course, obstacles along the way, or envy other runners; we often wish we could run someone else’s race. As we push up a long incline, we look over to see a brother or sister cruising by in a convertible. We sweat and our heart is pounding out of our chests, while they have the wind in their hair, gliding along carefree. We compare our backpack, filled with the struggles of life, to the woman pulling a barely filled, wheeled suitcase. 

Sometimes the race set before us, rather than depending on Jesus, becomes the thing that takes our attention from Him. Jesus doesn't want it to be this way.

In one sense, all believers are running the same race — we all are following Jesus to His eternal kingdom. But in another sense, we run different races. Some suffer physically more than others. Some suffer emotionally more than others. Some are blessed financially. Some struggle to make ends meet all their life. Some have wonderful family experiences. Some have no earthly family to speak of. When we look around at another’s race, we can fall into envy — envy that their race appears to be so much easier than ours, or that the ditch on their side of the course is not as deep as the ditch we ran into, or that God seems to have favored them more than He has favored us. When we do this, we miss the blessing and lessons God wants to teach us in our race.

Hebrews 12:1 challenges us to embrace our particular race. Not the race your best friend is running. Or the course God set your sister on. It isn't the one your spouse is running, either. It's your race. It's your particular spiritual journey to heaven, and God has handpicked certain surrenders, certain struggles, certain obstacles that are the exact best means for you to grow more like Him and spend eternity with Him.

Jesus wants us to keep our eyes on Him as we run towards heaven. If we turn our focus to the left or the right, checking out how our race is compared to someone else's, we are going to trip and fall. And we are going to lose all the joy that is promised when we obey. It's said that obedience equals joy, but when we begrudgingly obey and then compare our hard lot in life to someone else's apparently easy circumstances, that you will miss the joy and blessings of the race God has for you

We can run the race before us if we keep our eyes on Jesus, the one who authored and perfected our faith. It is His life we seek and in His power we run. If we run focused on the challenges before us, with the baggage of sin upon us, or envious of the runners around us, we will neglect to focus on Jesus. He is our goal, and it is He who will bring us home.

Run your race. Don't look to the left or the right. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Run your race.