HighPower Resources

Ministry Is Like A Marathon

by Dr. Lou Diaz

9-time Marathoner and

Pastor, Evangelical Free Church of Chico, CA

Ministry is like a marathon. It involves dedication, discipline, training, endurance, and perseverance.

Ministry is like a marathon. You face adverse weather conditions, suffer injuries, hit the wall so you are tempted to quit, and yet you plod on despite leg cramping and your body curling up into a standing fetal position.

Ministry is like a marathon. It is beyond your perceived ability to complete. Only by drawing from deep down in your gut and from reaching high up for strength from God above, are you able to continue toward the Finish Line. Just when the strain and the pain sets off your mental and physical alarms to cease and desist, you see a runner ahead of you with something written on the back of his T-shirt that reminds you of the truth, "I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me" (Philippians 4:13).

Ministry is like a marathon. The Lord Jesus ran His marathon when for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame, so that He sat down at the right hand of God the Father (Hebrews 12:2). As a minister, you are to look to Jesus as our model of endurance. He literally continued to stand up under pressure. Through faith in Jesus, like that of the multitudes of ministers before you (Hebrews 11), you are to toss aside the unbecoming weights of un-Christ-likeness. With the same divinely supplied endurance, you are to run with the race course set before you.

Ministry is like a marathon. You are to run the race course set before you. Your marathon course may be more hilly, or have less fans, or expose you to rougher weather conditions. But it is your race. The race set before you by God. He knows what you can handle, and more than that, what you are able to handle through His almighty power. He who called you is faithful to help you complete the many miles ahead. You are not alone, nor are you left without spiritual resources to use along the way (like GU packets and Aid Stations). He who began a good work in you is with you an He is faithful to complete it through you.

Ministry is like a marathon. The medal does not go to the person with the fastest time alone but it goes to all who finish. You see, ministry is not about being fast, flashy, and famous. Ministry is about being faithful.

Ministry is like a marathon. In your dying days you will be able to say, "I have kept the faith, I have fought the fight, I have run and completed the race." There is a medal of reward awaiting you. You will come before the Olympic Judgment Seat of Christ to evaluate your running for the Lord while you were on earth. He shall generously shower upon you an eternity worth of rewards that will make whatever you endured in ministry seem miniscule in comparason to this weight of glory you will receive. You will lay your medal at the feet of Jesus and say, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, whose completed marathon purchased people from every tongue, tribe, and nation." The marathon celebration shall include a banquet, joyous singing, and marathon stories of how Jesus brought you through.

Ministry is like a marathon!

Dr. Lou Diaz, Pastor and 9-Time Marathoner

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