Life is hard, even for Christians.

ESPECIALLY for Christians.

The world is watching, and that pressure can wear on us as we sense a magnifying glass aimed in our direction, inspecting everything we say and do, analyzing our every move.

Our slip-ups bring cheers and finger-pointing with shouts of, “Aha! Hypocrite!”

Our failures sting even more when there’s an audience. Even if the crowd condemns, we know God forgives us when we ask – we weep with gratitude.

We desperately try to avoid being a stumbling block, tripping people with our imperfections and personal struggles. Asking God to remove them and wondering “Why?” when He doesn’t.

We strive to do things right, but we don’t always succeed. At times, we fail miserably.

We go to bed in tears, hoping what we’ve done will last, be good, and will please God – after all, we know one day we will stand before Him and be held accountable.

We agonize over the lost, those running away from God, and those angry with Him. We understand because we were once there, too.

We know God is mighty and can handle everything. We also know we can’t look the other way, whistling or skipping on our way home while others perish.

It’s not in our hearts – those God has transformed within us – to stand by and do nothing.

We’ve studied God’s Word and understand the end is going to be dreadful and horrific for those who don’t believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, so we become consumed with a sense of urgency to act.

At times, we stumble over each other, our words, and our fear of doing it all wrong.

But thankfully, God never called us to be perfect, only to follow and believe in His Son Jesus Christ – the only One who IS perfect.

So, let’s wipe the tears from our cheeks, shaking off the weight of shame the world expects us to carry.

And remember:

When we’re slipping in the mud of our tears, sliding back into the ditch as we desperately try to obey our callings…

As we cling to the side of the mountain, crying out to God as we hold on with feeble hands and weary souls…

As we sense the enemy at our heels, trying to pull us down and into a trench of lies, discouragement, and darkness, where he waits to render us useless in Kingdom building…

Remember that GOD SEES US.

That’s right. We KNOW this.

And because our faithful God sees everything, we need to trust that He will help.

Your rescue is on the way, precious soul. Just hold on.

And with God’s rescue, the strength to keep going – to run your race, to keep walking on that narrow road, to snatch others from the fire, to dance and praise God in the middle of the storm, and to keep loving and praying for those who push you away.

Yes, life is hard, and the world is watching. But heaven is on the horizon, basking in the sunlight like a beautiful finish line.

And the Holy Spirit is within you, encouraging you to KEEP GOING.

Take heart. You’re not alone. A crowd of imperfect runners runs alongside you in this messy, muddy, slippery race.

So, let’s run together, loving God with everything we’ve got, helping each other when we slip, and grabbing every person standing on the sideline with our mud-caked hands.

May the watching world see the love of Christ shining in our eyes and come to KNOW this love as we refuse to stop until our worn-out bodies collapse with JOY the moment we reach that beautiful finish line.

The finish line that is held in the nail-scarred hands of our Savior.

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