Key scripture – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

When you receive bad news do you immediately panic and let fear cover you like a blanket?

If so, keep reading because the story below, by a missionary, Cecil Murphey, gives us a beautiful picture of Jesus, the Pioneer of our Faith.

“When I lived in Kenya, East Africa, I agreed to take two American guests into Masai territory early one Sunday morning. The Masai tribe, much photographed and studied, were nomadic and the last resisters of westernization in that part of the country.

Sangra, who spoke Masai, guided the three of us. We drove my Volkswagen Bug until the dirt road ended. “How far is it now?” asked Jim, one of the Americans.

“Not far. Perhaps one mile,” Sangra said. He pointed to the top of a high hill. “Just over there.” (The day before, he told me that he hadn’t been there before, but he could find it without any trouble. I had been with him on enough treks that I trusted him implicitly to get us there).

From Sangra’s answer, I knew it could be one mile or four miles. I also knew that “just over there” could easily mean over there, down the hill and up another. As we approached the second hill on that trip, Jack had pointed to a more gradual slope we could climb, but Sangra shook his head. He didn’t stop to explain. (On the way back to the car, we understood. The gentle slope hid a deep, rocky ravine).

I wasn’t totally wrong. We went up three hills, each higher than the previous.

“Where’s the trail? Which way?” asked Jack, the other American, as we started our upward climb.

Despite the lack of any obvious trail, Sangra kept going forward and we followed behind him single file. The unmatted grass had grown perhaps two feet high at the place we started. Obviously, no one had been up that way for a long, long time.

“Are you sure he knows where he’s going?” Jack whispered to me more than once.

“Why would he lead us astray?” I said.

“You think maybe he’s lost?”

“I don’t think so. He knows the area.”

Our “perhaps one mile” kept us walking for more than two hours. My two friends, unused to such strenuous effort and still new to the tropics, were exhausted when we reached the clearing just before high noon. Nearly fifty Masai sat and waited for us. After a service that lasted well over two hours, we started back.

“He’s not going the right way,” Jack kept saying. “He’s taking a different route.” He pointed to the direction we had traversed before.

“We’ll get there,” I kept saying. I was tired from the walk, and I had preached more than an hour, standing in the hot sun. My guests’ fears wore on my nerves. Finally, I just ignored them.

We made the trip back in less time than it had taken us to go.”

That story illustrates exactly what it means to follow Jesus, the “pioneer and perfector of our faith.” Scholars have translated it several ways, including author and finisher, but I like the concept of pioneer. When we call Jesus by that term, I think of Him as the ground breaker, the One who goes ahead of us into the unknown. He blazes the trail for us.

Sangra wasn’t Jesus, but he certainly exemplified the pioneer quality that we experience with Jesus. He never hesitated, never backtracked, and never looked around to get his bearings. He knew where he was going, understood they depended on him to lead them, and He got all of them there safely.

The difference between the two visitors and the missionary is that he was used to Sangra. Sangra had led him before. He trusted him, and he never had any doubts. Jim and Jack, however, knew nothing about Africa and they fretted and complained.

Most of us are like Jack and Jim in our journey through life. We don’t know what’s ahead and could easily get lost and that is why it is important for us to know and trust our Pioneer, Jesus, and follow Him, despite our doubts and fear. We will find out that the more we follow Him the more our faith and trust will grow and our doubts and fear will disappear.

Jesus, is constantly taking you into territory-which may be new for you- but since His lonely trek to Calvary, He has always known the way. The problem is, we freak out and panic because we don’t know the way. So in our minds that uncertainty makes it a fearful journey. Like Jack, we keep thinking, wondering, worrying, and trying to give our own directions to Jesus. But Jesus, who’s been there before, already knows the way. As I stop and mediate on that concept, it makes me realize the futility of my worries and concerns about the future.

I know there are times that you feel like turning back, I do too, but I don’t want to be like the unbelieving Israelites in the wilderness, who cried out, “Have you brought us out here to die?” Despite divine assurances, promises, and daily provisions for their needs, they wanted to go back to Egypt. Every new experience they had brought trembling and grumbling from them instead of praise and worship.

Do you see places ahead that scare you and make you wonder if your going to make it. Do you hear yourself asking, “How much longer do I have to endure this? How long until you answer my prayer? How far do I have to go before you free me from this temper? addiction? discouragement? health problem? How far do we have to go before my children come back to You? How much longer before I find a job? Until I am finally able to get ahead financially? Until the relationships in my life are healed and mended?”

Time after time, as you take the little journeys in life, going through new or strange territory you are often unsure of where you are going and you can’t see very far down the road. It is only after we get there, when we can pause, turn around and look back, that we can reflect on what’s happened and thank God for being so GOOD and so FAITHFUL!

Just like Sangra, Jesus doesn’t usually answer directly. He simply points ahead, showing you the right direction and He encourages you to keep on walking. Picture Jesus being so close that He puts His forehead on yours and as He looks you in the eyes He puts His hands on either side of your face and gently whispers, “I know you’re tired, but you can make it. Just keep following me. Keep walking in faith. You can do it. I am right here with you. You can trust me. I love you, You are my child, You belong to me, I will never leave you.”

No matter what you are going through your trial will come to an end, and you will be able to shout with joy and celebrate as you say to Jesus, “We did it! We made it!”

Those are the words, Jesus, the Pioneer of our Faith wants to hear. Perhaps even more, He would love to hear all of us say as we trek forward with Him as our guide, “I know we’re going to make it Jesus. I will not panic or freak out because I know, that I know, that I know, that I am going to be ok and everything will work out for my good and Your glory, because You are faithful, all Your promises are true, You are always with me, and I trust the plans that You have for me.”

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, I’m grateful that you’ve been there before, that You have already stood in the place where I am going to, and you know everything that lies ahead. Forgive me for the times I have fretted and complained about how long it is taking, that it didn’t seem fair, and when I wondered if You had forgotten about me. I know that you’re always there to lead me. I know that even though I do not know how many hills and valleys I have to cross before I get to the destiny that You have planned for me, I do not have to worry because You are with me every step of the way, teaching me, changing me, and showing me the way to go, whether to to right or to the left. “He will be gracious if you ask for help. He will surely respond to the sound of your cries. Though the Lord gave you adversity for food and suffering for drink, he will still be with you to teach you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way to go” whether to the right or to the left.” (Isaiah 30:19-21). Father, help me to get rid of everything that slows me down, especially the sin in my life, which includes fear and doubts, and give me the determination to run the race that is ahead of me by keeping my eyes on Jesus, who leads me and makes my faith complete. (Hebrews 12:1-2). In the Name of Jesus, the Pioneer of My Faith, I pray, Amen.