The Race

Recently my Sister Regina was given the vision of a running shoe and immediately what came to mind was a scripture written by Paul about The Race.

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

However, after doing a search on the words the race we found another scripture that was perhaps more fitting to our ministry.

Hebrews 12:1[ The Call to Endurance ] Therefore since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us,

So what exactly is this race the authors of these letters are referring to? Well, for me it is both a symbolic and literal race of endurance and the track or course is a metaphor for the narrow path. There are times I feel very tired but will never consider giving up. It is not a race you can train for, but one in which strength and endurance are gained while running.

This race is also one in which you must use your mind just as athletes do when they run races, gauging how and when to jump hurdles, when to increase speed and when to slow….. what pace to run in order not to deplete your energy stores. The hurdles are perhaps symbolic for trials and tribulations in our lives. They might also be sin, or temptation. Are we able to jump over them completely? Do we trip on them and stumble? Do we fall down completely? If so, do we get up or just lie down and give up? All these things are part of the race/walk with Father and Christ. For me personally, I know that Father is always there and that She won’t desert me as long as I stay faithful to Her.

Looking at another part of the verse, the weight spoken of may be seen as worldly things such as materialism, vanity, pride, envy, covetousness, addiction, all the things that pull us away from Father. If we can shrug these things off it certainly makes running the race and jumping the hurdles much easier. I think it sort of gives a whole new meaning to the term “baggage”. Can you honestly picture yourself walking around with some of these things piled on top of you, having a close personal relationship with Father and Christ? Yes, its true that They will help unburden you, but you must also do the work too. You must willingly give up worldly things and turn to The Way. If any of you are interested in reading The Way we are happy to share that document with you.

Taking another look, who might this large cloud of witnesses surrounding us be? If you’ve been with this Ministry for a while you have heard us talk about holy angels and holy ghosts. You might think that the witnesses would be the holy angels, but actually it would be the holy ghost observers that hold those positions. There are 144,000 holy ghost orders, and out of those orders are made the observers. When something happens on earth or in the spirit realm that necessitates witnesses they are called upon to testify. They do not do their jobs alone, but travel in groups.

Deuteronomy 19:15
[ Witnesses in Court ] "One witness cannot establish any wrongdoing or sin against a person, whatever that person has done. A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Now, let me back up a bit. The large cloud of witnesses I believe is actually speaking not only of the holy ghost observers, but also of the spirit realm in general. The spirit realm for many people is invisible, but for others it does appear to float around them, thus the correlation to the clouds. So you see, once again The Word is many layered in Truth and meaning.

Finally, I want to address “running with endurance the race that lies before us”. This is such an important line in the scripture. I see it as first, showing believers that the journey on the narrow path is not a 60 meter sprint. Nor is it a steeplechase. But it could be seen as similar to a marathon with steeplechase elements thrown in. Yes, running this sort of race takes A LOT of endurance, but Father will not put us through anything more than we are capable of handling if we just turn to Her for strength and guidance. Does this mean we aren’t allowed to stumble or fall down from time to time? No, of course not. But it does mean that we aren’t allowed to STAY DOWN. We aren’t allowed to GIVE UP. We MUST get back up and keep running the race regardless, always moving toward Father and Christ. That, my friends, is the difference.