Perseverance

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Another important virtue to learn from this scripture as we run to fulfill God's will is the word perseverance. 

Thanks be to God that the race to fulfill God's will is already marked out for us. Ours is to follow the markings laid out for us. That takes discipline. We are in a race and everyone has to focus on what their calling is. It is those who don't understand their calling that they busy themselves on talking ill about others who are running their race. 

If all Christians did concentrate on their call, we wouldn't have empty seats in our churches or even enough room to fill the vast number of people that would flock in. In this Christendom, everyone has a part to play and a race to run. There's no need to compete or fight one another, simply shine in your call. 

If the race was to be a short one, we wouldn't need perseverance. But since it's a long distance race, of a marathon type, one needs staying power in order to finish. Some Christians behave like shooting stars which just appear in a flash and at the same time disappear. They come from one prayer meeting, mission or conference all fired up to do something great, they get all out there, read the Word, pray, fast evangelise and then after two or three weeks they become cold and give up on those disciplines. And then they need another conference or fiery preacher to push them to do something. They have no discipline to fun the flame and keep it burning. I call such microwave Christianity where someone always needs an external person to push them to do things only for a while.

You cannot win in this Christian walk if you behave like that. You simply need to hang in there through the power of the Spirit. The same is true in other areas of life like child raising, marriage, work etc. If you want results from such in one or two months, you are simply joking. It will take you a while. So you need to brace yourself for the long haul. And the longer you stay doing something, the sweeter the experiences in the future.