Perseverance
Professional road cycling includes three Grand Tours: the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España. These three-week races, the only tours in professional cycling that exceed 14 days, follow the same pattern with daily stages offering different challenges. Flat stages favor sprinters. Mountain stages favor climbers. Individual and team time trials favor altogether different skill sets.
The Tour de France is the oldest and most prestigious of the Grand Tours, taking place annually during the month of July. I pay close attention each year, though sitting in front of my television for several hours in the morning is almost never an option. I watch when I can and content myself with viewing the summary videos at the end of the day.
The joy of watching the Tour, which includes marvelous views of France, is the opportunity to witness the varied experiences of the race. The moment when a breakaway works and an unexpected rider wins a stage. The pure adrenaline of a sprint finish. The utter disappointment experienced by those who crash and must abandon the Tour. The jockeying for position in the peloton. The teamwork required to make it possible to ride a bike for 2,000 miles over three weeks with only two days of rest.
At this point I could offer trite spiritual “wisdom” based on the Grand Tours. You know, something like, “Jesus called a group of disciples to follow him because he knew we needed a team.” Or “The Christian life is like a mountain stage in the Tour de France. We must ride together to get to the top.”
True? Sure. Lame? Definitely!
So, let me instead quote the one passage of the Bible that always comes to mind as I watch the Tour de France. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3)
The Grand Tours are as much about perseverance as anything else, which is not a quality we as a society generally value. We want quick and easy satisfaction. We want the red light to change to green quickly. We want our wireless connections to be fast. In our spiritual lives we expect the same from God. We want a quick answer to our prayers and an easy road to joy and peace.
But that is not the life God promises us. God invites us to take a road that includes suffering and struggle as well as joy and celebration. Sometimes the road is easy. Other times it requires more of us than we think it’s possible to give.
But when perseverance is required, we need not lose heart. Why? Because we do not journey alone. Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith, leads the way, so that we, with him, will find the joy that God sets before us.