Hebrews 12...Running the Race

I am a non-runner. Though surrounded by friends and family who push themselves over every manner of terrain, I will never join their race...at least not at a jog or sprint. I have learned from watching my husband run his courses though. His success is a process of training, discipline, pain, sacrifice, motivation, inspiration, partnership...so many pieces to a finished race. He could never do well in his efforts all alone. He would never run again, if the rewards were not worth it all. This is why the writer of Hebrews uses the analogy of a race for the life of faith. It is a strenuous exercise with many pieces. But,
we are not alone. Like a condensed mass looming over us, those who've experienced God's faithfulness to His promises, should be an encouragement to keep on in faith. We need to be refreshed by the truth that falls from the gathering of the their testimonies...
Even more than that, we need to look to the ultimate inspiration...Jesus! Faith is His brainchild...from birth to death to eternity. Jesus, remained centered on His ultimate destiny of life with His Father and future with us. He endured more pain, more rejection, more temptation than any of us ever will...and He persevered on to His reward, His place of authority. It's Jesus' example that motivates our perseverance. It is His love that strengthens, His presence that encourages, His promise that propels us on to our finish line.
How can we expect to avoid pain or rejection when the Son of God subjected himself to this human experience? How can we give up in the battle against sin when He secured the victory? How can we lose heart when what we have waiting for us is so incredibly worth it all?
And what is awaiting us?
"22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly[a] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus...
28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire."

Hebrews 11: FAITH

Faith is as old as the most ancient human stories.
Historic humanity has always believed in what we cannot see. The question is never: "Are you a person of faith?" but "What/whom is your faith in?".
So this is the question I pose: "What has formed your faith?
Since my foundation is faith in a loving and sovereign Creator, my interpretation of life works through the filter of His love and power...no matter what happens. I started life out in an extremely loving and protected environment so the seeds of this faith were "faithfully" formed.
And since faith is exponential...my faith has built on itself; but that is not to say it is never challenged. You only have to have eyes and ears to wonder..."Is God real? Is He in control? Is He loving?". Life challenges faith.
So what is the process of evaluation when faith is becoming crippled by life experience?
My own process begins with God's Word.

The more I dig into the grounds of my faith, the more I am convinced of the truth of it. Just as light "exploded into light", faith explodes into faith. I am not a scientist; but astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology, physics (etc.) in and of themselves provide few conclusions.... they only lead to more questions. It is not science alone that proves or disproves God and creation...it is faith. It is where you find your beginning. My beginning is "in the beginning God"...from there, I am amazed and overwhelmed 
at the proof of Him. (Like an Artist-5/21/14)

Faith says: "I have confidence that what I hope for is a true reality even though I am not fully experiencing it now. I am utterly persuaded of this reality, though there is not always visual evidence of it." Hebrews 11:1 (my own words)

My life has been a continual searching out and weighing out of God's Word...and I am convinced of this: God IS real. He IS loving. He is pursuing all of us in that love and wants to help us make sense of life.
Over the years, we've heard and experienced many challenges to faith in a loving, all-powerful God. I think that is why God graciously includes Hebrews Chapter 11 in the Bible. This chapter is loaded with testimonies of real people who lived through all kinds of challenges to faith: life and death, victory and defeat, wealth and poverty, joy and sorrow, happiness and pain, success and failure...
"and all these, having gained approval through their faith," Heb. 11:39
What this chapter says to me is that faith is never impossible, no matter what your circumstances. It says that the gift of faith is offered to ALL kinds of people. This Letter to the Hebrews is a call to faith, a bold invitation to join the ranks of those who believe that we are part of something much bigger than what we see in the here and now.
Faith is a reward for responding to God's pursuit of you...faith will also be rewarded by God in fulfilling all of His promises to you.
And what are those promises?
For starters, He promises us His approval, an eternal home and life with Him, adoption into His family, victory over our destructive behaviors and a transformed heart and mind.
A life of faith is a life filled with increasing understanding, courage, humility, perseverance...
 In faith, we worship in the every day stuff, we are protected and provided for in God's purposes for us. We are blessed in order to bless others... given to, so that we may give.
This is the beauty, hope and power of faith.