This week, Pastor Mark preached the sermon “I Am Rewarded,” out of Ephesians 6:5–9. In this post, Deacon Trisha Wilkerson writes about those moments before we get our reward at the finish line, those moments when the race feels never-ending and exhausting.
“The race is not to the swift.” Ecclesiastes 9:11
Life swirls around us, and we sometimes muster up the courage to grab some time to stop and rest. Schedules, tasks, duties, relationships, budgets, errands, ministry, friends, birthdays all capture our attention. A whirlwind of time and memories flashes behind us.
If all of these moments were a race, what would be at the end? What are we racing toward or for? There are piles of work, and the piles never go away. We run faster and harder in this race of days to get through it all, but what is getting my body in action? The sweat drips down and the busyness increases—for what?
What is at the finish line? What is all this effort really about? Why do we strain to get through it all? No one seems to notice my straining, since everyone else running beside me is dripping with motivated strides.
Exhausting and sacred
Then, I stop and look around to get perspective. I see myself burdened with a heavy load, perspiring, and about to cry from exhaustion. I see others doing the same. Some are sitting down, faces streaked with tears of despair. There are some who are veering off the track to another destination, a distraction of some sort. Others look peaceful, as if they were already done, just resting and glad about it. I look ahead and I see no finish line, even though I was promised it was right ahead of where I stopped! A race that never ends? What did I sign up for? This race is exhausting.
This is the race of our Christian faith. What waits for me as my reward? What motivates my heart to work hard as a mother? Throughout the day, what drives me in my role as a wife? What are my rest and peace? What are my eyes focused on?
Your work is a very sacred matter. God delights in it, and through it he wants to bestow his blessings on you. This praise of work should be inscribed on all tools, on the forehead and faces that sweat from toiling.
Jesus, our prize
How does the good news of Jesus’ gospel change the way that we work?
- We are humbled by our weakness and look to Jesus who is strong (2 Cor. 12:9–10).
- We can repent of independence and self-sufficiency and instead cling to God because of the reality that we can’t do anything without him (Isa. 64:6).
- We work knowing that God sees us and loves us as we serve him through serving others (Luke 9:48).
I work myself up to a pretty great rhythm and my breathing seems right for the pace, then all of a sudden, I get anxious about the hills ahead of me. My breathing becomes more labored and my heart starts to get discouraged. I whisper, I can’t go any further.
So it is with work. Just as I get my house in order, I am staring at overwhelming and steep hills of work ahead of me. What keeps me moving forward growing in endurance? It can only be Jesus.
God is the reward. He is the motivation. There is a finish line, and our home in heaven is waiting for us (John 14:2). And along the way, as this race exposes our weakness, we can worship him.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1–3
God wants me to run this race of life with endurance. He has set before me this body, this life, this heart to look to Jesus. I run hard for nothing if I am not looking to Jesus. Jesus is the why of my worship: the object, the reward.
God is with me now, not just at the finish line. He is with me with every move I make, every thought, every tender feeling. He is the promised land, but I am already there. In Christ, I am running toward him—and with him.
Trisha Wilkerson is a deacon at the Ballard church where her husband, Mike, serves as a pastor and director of Biblical Counseling for Mars Hill. This post is adapted from her forthcoming book, Everyday Worship: Our Work, Heart, and Jesus.
