The Cloud of Witnesses

I’ve recently discovered that one of the “worst” things you could ever pray for is for God to teach you patience. God promises that He will always answer prayers made in accordance with His will, and as He desires patience in the life of every one of His children, this is one prayer that will never fail to be answered.

However, the million dollar question is, am I willing to endure the things God brings along my path in the process of teaching me patience?

God has been teaching me in the School of Patience over the past several weeks and months. Just when I think I might have finally scored a C+ and graduated out of the class, I blow it and have to start all over again. Fortunately, even though I don’t have patience yet, I serve an all-loving Father who has infinite patience with me!

As I’ve been in this rather interesting school of life, I’ve been reading about patience in the Bible. The other day as I was reading one of my favorite books in the Bible, Hebrews, the words of Hebrews 12:1 jumped off the page.

“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.”

As I pondered this passage, I thought about the phrase “cloud of witnesses”. Who are these eyewitnesses of our struggles, these people who are looking from afar as we journey on the road of life?

After a few moments, it struck me. The “cloud of witnesses” are the heroes of faith mentioned in the preceding chapter. At first, the thought of these giants of faith constantly watching our struggles from heaven might seem rather intimidating. But then as I thought back over their lives, I realized that these heroes of faith, men and women whom God decided to particularly honor, might have something more in common with me than I ever realized. Let’s take a look at just a few of their stories.

By faith Rahab . . .
Funny thing is, if you or I were God, we probably wouldn’t include Rahab in our roster of heroes of faith. A prostitute, she’d committed just about every sin in the book, and she knew exactly what it was like to battle the lusts of the flesh that plague us all. Like each of us, Rahab had many moments of failure, but once she patiently trusted God with her future, He proved Himself faithful by sparing her life—and gave her something that her soul surely must have longed for, a marriage and a family of her own.

By faith Gideon. . .
Ahhh, yes, Gideon. Another motley hero. Another saint with a list of sins. Unbelief and distrust of God were so great in his life that God had to work special miracles just to help poor Gideon take the hint. God showed Gideon—and us—that He could use anyone or anything to accomplish His will on earth, even a few cracked pots.

By faith Joseph . . .
Talk about having to learn patience the HARD WAY. Joseph knew when he was just a young boy that he was destined for greatness, but it would take years of suffering, betrayal, and his worst nightmares becoming true before reaching the height of his destiny. What went through his head during all those years in Pharaoh’s prison? Did he doubt whether God really did have a plan for his life? Was he ever tempted to just throw in the towel?

By faith Isaac. . .
Isaac had a huge weight on his shoulders. Though he was next in line to carry out God’s promise of birthing a great nation out of Abraham’s family, Isaac had one small problem. He didn’t have a wife. His proverbial body clock was ticking along, yet God still took His time before sending Isaac his Princess Charming.

I wonder what went through his mind all those years while he was waiting for God to bring along just the right spouse for him? Did his soul long for someone he’d never even met? Was he ever tempted to settle for Ms. Second-Best?

Any of these scenarios sound familiar? I saw myself in many of the behind-the-scenes stories of the heroes of faith. And that’s exactly what God intended.

God’s heroes of faith, the cloud of witnesses watching us from Heaven, aren’t just disinterested spectators. The men and women standing at the finish line have run the same race, too.

They are standing at the tape, waiting for you to cross it, cheering you on and saying, “Don’t give up. I’ve run this race, too. I know what you’re going through, but keep fighting. Keep running. I reached the finished line . . . and so can you.”