The Women's Race — Jenny Daniel

Shall we just pray? Dear Father, this song is the prayer of our hearts, of my heart, Lord, and we pray that in this meeting we will allow Thee to have Thy way in our hearts, and have Thy way even with the words that are assured, Father, in Jesus' name.

Amen. Now, before I start, I just want to thank you all for the outfit. It's not often that I get something that's brand new, from top to bottom, and I thank you very, very much, and I will enjoy wearing it.

The Women's Race of Faith

Today, we are going to talk about our race, and we can turn to Hebrews 12, verses 1 and 2. Now, I've felt led by the Lord in these two days to share with you about our race. But I'm talking about our race as women.

I believe that even though the world may say we are equal, I believe that the women's race is very unique. Our race is not in the public eye. Our race doesn't make the headlines of the newspapers often.

Our race is often behind closed doors, with many disturbances and irritations and petty hindrances and things in our home. And yet the glorious fact remains that we are part of the great race of faith.

The race that has been run from the beginning of time. The race that is being run now. The race that will be run till the day that the Lord Jesus comes back in glory. And great men, if you think of the great men of faith which have run before, isn't it wonderful that we, you and I, can be part of this great race?

Commencing the Race Through the New Birth

Now, when I was thinking about the race, I felt that there were a few C's that the race divided into. And I'm not going to tell you how many C's, because I'm doing it over two days. But the first C that we have to consider is the commencement of the race.

One can't run a race unless you have a starting point. When I was a child, I went to a village school, and they used to have sports they ran. Now, the sports track was just a grass field, and they marked the lanes with chalk.

And I can still relive today the fear I had when I had to stand ready to run to wait for that gunshot. When the gun went off, I froze, and then I jumped, and only then did I run. It was a frightening thing for me.

As a little child, I would have loved to have just run a little bit ahead and let them listen to the gunshot. Or even to enter the race after they had started running. But I had to start at the beginning.

I couldn't miss that start. That is why the Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, Nicodemus, you must be born again. Nicodemus, you are in a race. You are in a race of religion, of good work, of being an example to others.

But Nicodemus, you haven't passed the starting point. You've got to go right back and start at the beginning. Now, some of you may say, well, I'm very religious. I write Bible notes. I sit at the front of the church.

Even my brothers and sisters turn to me and ask me about religious matters. But what God is asking you and I is, have we come to the starting point? Have we come to the Lord Jesus, who is the only way that we can enter the race?

He said, I am the door. He is the door for us to the race. He that has a son has life. He that has not a son of God has not life. If we have not repented of our sins and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we haven't started.

And then we have to get back to the starting point. Now, when I was in high school, I had to go to boarding school. And I was 14, and there the nicest day was sports day as well. We didn't have any homework.

We didn't have any books. And we were just sitting in our houses, and each house was screaming louder than the other. But every now and again, there was absolute silence. And the silence was for everybody waiting for the gunshot to go off again and for the runners to start.

Even they couldn't jump the gun. And when they stood ready in the road and some kneeling, if somebody jumped ahead of time, they had to start off all over again. You see, they too would be disqualified if they didn't start at the starting point.

My father's mother, we used to call her Oma. It's the Afrikaans name for grandmother. She was a very religious lady. She was a very good lady. In fact, her life was so exemplary that her children felt that she must have got saved as a little girl.

And so they never asked her whether she was saved, even though they were older and they had got saved. And one day, a little missionary lady came and visited all the farms in our community, and she didn't have a car.

So she walked from farmyard to farmyard. And when she came to my Oma's house, she said to her, Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus Christ? Are you sure that you are saved? And she burst into tears and she said, Oh, for years, I've been longing that somebody would help me.

I do not have the assurance of salvation. And there, the two of them were able to pray together. You see, the family thought she was way down on the track. She seemed ahead of them. But she hadn't passed the starting point.

The Cloud of Witnesses and the Race of Faith

And the first question God wants to ask us today is, Have you passed the starting point? Have you commenced the race? The next key we get in the race is right here in the verse for us, and it is the cloud of witnesses.

And what a mighty cloud of witnesses we find in chapter 11. When I was a little girl, I had a very vivid imagination. And I used to imagine that all the cloud of witnesses were looking at everything I was doing.

And when I wanted to do something wrong, I used to say, Oh, what if they could see? But then the Lord Jesus spoke to me and he said, I'm the one who sees everything that you do. I am in heaven's glory.

My race is finished, run, and you, my child, for me, my dear, this life's great challenge, run. I wait with caring interest. I watch you from above. Each triumph, hallelujah, to crown a Savior's love.

So it is the Lord Jesus that can see us, even when others can't see us. But chapter 11 gives us a wonderful list of examples. Now, when I looked at chapter 11, which we haven't done this morning, but when I looked at chapter 11, there were a few things that I noticed.

One of the things that I noticed that is mostly men that are in chapter 11. And perhaps that is because, as I said before, the woman's race is not in the public eye. It is many a time behind closed doors.

And yet the woman's race is so precious in God's sight. The other thing I noticed was that if you look at the names in chapter 11, you and I know that some of them really stumbled on the way. They didn't run perfectly.

And yet a God who is so full of compassion that removes our sins as far as the east and from the west. He didn't look at their sins. He just saw that they had repented and He speaks to them as men and women of faith.

Abel's Obedient Sacrifice

Isn't it wonderful to serve such a God? Now, what we're going to do this morning, just for a short while, is we're going to pretend that we're going right back in time. And we're going to stand next to the racetrack.

And we're just going to look at the runners running by. Now, the first runner is Abel. Abel had a very short run, didn't he? And if a person had to have a banner across Abel's life, it would be, he did what God asked him to do.

Abel did what God asked him to do. He knew that without shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins. He knew he had to sacrifice exactly in the manner that God asked him to do. And because of his obedience, it cost him his life.

Enoch, Noah, and Faith in the Impossible

But isn't it wonderful that he was willing to do what God asked him to do? And so we see him run past. The next one, he sees Enoch. Now, it's very exciting to me that in the Bible, we see Enoch starting off.

In Genesis 5, verse 21, it says,. And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years. Something must have happened at the birth of Methuselah that drew Enoch to the starting point.

It's wonderful. We see him starting off, and we see him running. And you know, he ran so well. The Lord wrote across his life, through his words, He walked with God. He was running absolutely in step with God.

He didn't deviate to the right or the left. It was as if he and God were running as one. And the exciting thing about Enoch is he didn't cross the finishing line like we have to. God was standing at the finishing line, and he ran right into the arms of God.

The next one we see running past us is Noah. Now, perhaps across Noah there would be the banner, He believed the God of the impossible. Noah is always an exciting runner to think about, even as a child, to think of that ark that he built, that he believed a God of the impossible.

Imagine an ark as large as he built. Imagine telling the people that the animals had to go in, and he had to obey the God of the impossible, in the midst of a mocking and spawning people. There was no rain.

They didn't know rain. He had to build a thing to float in an area without water. I think Noah was an amazing runner. We know that he failed when he came out of the ark, and he got drunk. But God overlooks it, as he sees his faith.

We need to believe the God of the impossible. When God asks us something that seems impossible, even if it is to be victorious in an impossible situation, let us, like Noah, believe the God of the impossible.

Abraham's Obedience Despite Impossible Odds

Now, the next one we get is Abram. Across Abram running, we could write these words, Obedience despite impossible odds. Obedience despite impossible odds. Well, Abram is called out of Ur. I used to think Ur was just a real little, what you'd call, I don't know if that's the right word, a dump.

I used to think it was just these little mud-type houses. But if you go back and read up a little bit about ancient civilizations, you realize that Ur was a city that was much more civilized than we imagine.

And God called Abram to leave Ur, and to go and live in tents, not knowing where he was going to take him. And I think that was tremendous faith. And sometimes God does ask us to do things where he doesn't show us the end.

Even as Job, what he went through, God didn't show him the end. But Abram was faithful to just believe and obey the God of the impossible. Now, in our country, there is a race. It's called the Comrace Marathon.

I don't know if you've heard about it. It's between Durban and Peter Marrisburg. And in that Comrace Marathon, there's a section that is so steep that many of the runners that have run well up to that point suddenly give up or slow down or fall down because it is so difficult to pass what we call the Polly Short.

Now, I think the Polly Short for Abram in his race, this steep incline, was when God asked him to offer up Isaac. It was not only to sacrifice his child, but it was that in this child, all God's promises were contained.

And yet, Abram obeyed God. He believed that God could be the impossible, that God could even raise up Isaac because he had promised that. I sometimes think that heaven was quiet, watching as Abram lifted up his arm to see if he was really obedient, knowing that later the Lord Jesus would be sacrificed and there wouldn't be a substitute for him.

So Abram is a wonderful runner to us. Isaac and Jacob just go fast quickly, blessing their offspring. Then we see Joseph. Now, there's so many wonderful things that could have been put in about Joseph, but the only thing that's mentioned here is Joseph saying, when you go out, you must take my bones with me.

Moses Choosing God's Way Over Luxury

I'll be dead when you go out. But I know that God said when Israel goes out, I know that Israel will go out. And God treasured that faith that Joseph believed God so implicitly. Next, we get Moses. Now, we all know about Moses.

The interesting thing about Moses is that in chapter 11, it first speaks about his parents. You see, they ran ahead of him, and they were obedient to God. So Moses was following in the footsteps of his parents.

And in the same way, you and I are running, and our children are running behind us. We also see Moses living in the lap of luxury, running in the king's palace, and suddenly there's a choice. He has to decide whether he's going to follow God's way with hardship or if he's going to carry on in the riches that were his, almost like his inheritance at that time.

I also think heaven waited to see which turn in here it's going to take. And he chose God with the affliction and suffering that it was going to bring. Well, I think the next one we get to, I've missed my place.

Sarah's Faith Despite Her Failures

Oh, now we get to the first lady. The first woman is Sarah that we see running. Well, it's exciting that it's a woman, but there are many things in Sarah's life that really disappointed me in the Bible.

One of the big things that disappointed me about Sarah is that when Abram asked her to lie and pretend that she was his sister, which was a half truth, she didn't go to Abram and say, Oh, my husband, I really do not think this is the right thing to do.

You see, we as women, if our husbands want to do something that is wrong, we have the chance to just say to them, I don't think this is the right thing to do. Don't you think it would honor God rather if he spoke the truth?

But she didn't take that chance. And, you know, she so lived out what he told her to do that when Abimelech realized that she was Abram's wife and not his sister, he rebuked Sarah. And he said to her in Genesis 20, verse 16, that her brother, in other words, her husband, must be as frontless to her eyes.

What was he saying to Sarah? He was saying to Sarah, you know, because you had a husband, your eyes should not have been wandering around as they were. He was saying, Sarah, your eyes were not the eyes of a married woman.

Isn't that a rebuke? We also know Sarah gave her maidservant into Abram's arms. She did many things that were wrong. She laughed in disbelief. But, you know, when God looked at her, he did not see those iniquities that had been washed away.

And God saw her as a woman of faith. Now, we talk about Abram leaving earth, but it wasn't only Abram that had to leave earth. It was Sarah. And when God called Abram, Sarah could have said, No, Abram, you're asking too much of me.

I don't want to leave earth. I'll stay behind. You go ahead and go on this wandering into the unknown. I'm going to stay where I know where I am. But Sarah didn't say no. We can say, bravo, Sarah. Because there are many women who stand in their husband's way, when their husbands are called to work for the Lord, to do missions.

I know of particularly one person in our country, the husband is longing to be in the Lord's service, but his wife didn't say yes like Sarah. His wife said no, and he's out of God's service today. Sarah also had, she might have laughed initially, but eventually she had the faith to believe God would give her the strength to have the child that he had promised.

Rahab's Redemption Through Faith

And that faith was so practical that it sustained her right here. And so we say, bravo, Sarah, you've run well. Now, Isaac and Jacob we've done, Joseph we've done, and then we get to another woman, and that is the harlot, Raab.

Now it's quite a shock to find the harlot, Raab, in the runners, isn't it? And yet it is Raab who was the harlot. And I think God puts that word, the harlot, in, because He wants to show you and me that no matter how dark her sin was, because she repented, because she embraced God, when the spies came to her house and she realized this is the true God and she embraced their faith, when she hung the starlet cord out as a proof of her faith and that God would keep to His promises, it was Raab the harlot no more.

But even in Matthew and Luke, in the Giana, I don't know, this is so big right now, she's there because God has forgiven her. And to me it's exciting. Raab married Sammon. His son Boaz married Ruth. Their son was Obed, their son was Jesse, and their son was David.

So Raab, the harlot, became Raab, the great, great grandmother of David. Isn't that exciting? She had many runners behind her. One day I was praying about somebody that had fallen into sin. I was so shocked, and I was depressed, and I was kneeling beside the bed and praying for that person, and suddenly the Lord pointed me back to the New Testament, to the woman who fell into sin, and His reaction to her.

And then I wrote these words, It was Thy mercy that looked down on her, not to condemn. Thy voice, the angry cries of them, and shamefully they dropped each stone, thus she the sand, amazed, alone. Thy blood for her could in atone.

Thy grace could make her fit for home. O love that sees the erring soul, and gently comes to make it whole. It was Thy mercy that looked down on her, and in her bosom hope did stir. For did the Master not implore, Go my child, and sin no more?

When I thought of that woman in sin, I thought of what she must have thought. Imagine what? Yes, she was going to be stoned to death, the screams, the shouts, the stones hitting her, and suddenly the Lord Jesus came in her midst, and everybody flunk away, and there she stood.

And I tried to imagine what she thought. Can I ever, ever pen the eyes from which no judgment came? Sorrow for my sin I saw. O to stumble nevermore. Knowledge of my sordid life, every cause and every strife.

Sadness at my fallen state. Yet He wills another fate. Pardon for the life before. Mercy, hope forevermore. Perhaps even in this exemplary room, there may be somebody who has something in their past, something as dark and as dreadful as Raab.

Gideon, David, Samuel, and the Faithful Witnesses

But God can wipe it away. God can wash it away. And like Raab, you can become one of the great runners of faith. Isn't it wonderful? Now the list goes on, and I'm just going to read the last of the list to you.

And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to slight the armies of aliens, and women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection, and others at trial of cruel mockings and scourging, yammer ever of bonds and imprisonment, they were sown, they were sown asunder, were tempted, were slain with a sword, they wandered about in sheep skins, and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy, they wandered in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth, all these, and these all, having obtained a good report, through faith, received not the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, God having provided some better thing for us, the day without us should not be made perfect.

Isn't it amazing, the people that have run ahead of you and I in the race, and you know the race went on, it went through the inquisition, it went through the torturing that other ladies had to go through, that we haven't had to go through, and then we see Susanna Wesley run fast, and Amy Carmichael, and Mrs. Carman, different ones have run ahead of us, and we, if we've entered, are running, and one day perhaps our children will run behind us.

Casting Off Every Weight

It is awe inspiring to think, that you and I are given the privilege, to be part of this race. Now the next thing we are going to deal with, is the casting off of weight. Now it says here, wherefore, you see, wherefore seeing we also are compassed about, with so great a cloud of witnesses, because of the way they ran, how can we allow anything to be a weight, to be a hindrance on us, they gave their all, how could we not give our all?

Now weight is not necessarily a sin, it's not a wrong thing, if I were to run in a race, and I wanted to put on boots, and I wanted to put on a coat, and a thick hat, they wouldn't stop me, there's no rule saying exactly what you must run in a race, but it would seem foolish to us, wouldn't it?

The Weight of Criticism

And yet we as Christians, so often hamper ourselves with weight, unnecessary weight, and these trip us up in our running, in our race. Now the first weight that we can carry about with us, is the weight of criticism.

I'll never forget a little lady that's in heaven now, who came to me broken, depressed, she'd lost her joy because of the criticism that people levelled against her. It was family that criticised her, on her husband's side, and she said what broke her, was that her husband allowed them to criticise her, because he didn't want to lose his family.

And there she had to endure all these remarks, put in here and there, continually, and she was definitely stumbling on the way. And then I said, well, when the criticism comes, look at it, is it from God?

If it is not from God, sling it behind you, cast away that weight, it's not from him. Don't carry it with you, and allow yourself to become depressed. Sometimes it is our criticism of others, that become a weight in our race.

You know, if you run in a race, and I've seen many a race, where a person turns around to see how the other person is running, and while they're looking, that person passes them. And so if we in our Christian race are continually looking and seeing, I wonder what they're doing, they're doing that wrong, they should do it my way, and you're continually looking back, and giving advice in your heart to others, it's going to become a weight in your Christian walk.

Leaving Past Sins and Failures Behind

The next thing that can become a tremendous race to us, is the past, even the sins of the past. I knew two men who had been in the war, the one man was never able to leave the war behind, it was always with him, and if the war was mentioned, he just used to get into a state, because he's not thrown that past behind him.

There was another man, who was a prisoner of war in the war, World War II, he had to escape, he had gone through many dreadful experiences, but he was able to speak about incidents in the war, because the war wasn't with him anymore.

He was even able to laugh about some of the dreadful things that happened to him in the prisoner of war camp. You see, the war was behind him. Now in the same way, I knew two Christian friends, who'd been living in sin, and who made a step towards the Lord, and the one had left the past behind her, but the other one, if she spoke about, what did you do when you, where were you when you were 12, which town were you in, she almost wanted to go berserk, because it was all so real, and so with her, she had dragged it with her, and the sad thing was, that this girl returned to that sin, because she hadn't thrown it aside.

You know, when my mother was at a junior school, the school asked her to help out with their teaching, and she decided to help out against impossible odds, and she said, I could share this with you, she had to cross a river that was in flood on a tractor.

She didn't want to teach, because she wanted to be at home, but they were desperate for help that term, and so she said yes. Well, she went, she had to wait for a tractor to take her across the river, she got to the other side, she had to wait for somebody to give her a lift, and then eventually, she arrived at the school a few minutes late.

Now, the head of the school turned to her, and reprimanded her for being late in front of everybody. Well, my mom, my dad hadn't wanted her really to teach, he knew she had to help out, but he said to her, if there's any problems, come home.

So what did my mother do? She hadn't signed yet, so she took up her bag, and she went home, and had to find another teacher. It wasn't really her failing, but that thing that happened lived with her for a number of years, and it lost her of her joy, it lost her of her confidence in our community for a few years.

And then when my mother was at the edge of death, and when the doctor said she can't even live, and when she came back from the verge of stepping into that other world that is so much more pure and holy, she came back and she said, she couldn't speak for a few days, but when she could speak, she said, I must write a letter to that principal.

I want that incident that happened to be erased. And you know, when my mom wrote that letter and she posted it, she was a different person. Everybody said, what has happened to her? Because the past was now in the past, and it wasn't a weight in her walk.

The Glorious Past as a Spiritual Weight

Now the glorious past, when I'm talking about the glorious past, is sometimes you have tremendous victories and triumphs, that can also be a weight upon us. You know, you can carry a book with you of all the wonderful achievements that you've done for the Lord, the souls you might have won, and so you're running along and you sit in the track and you're just looking through your photo album of all your triumphs, the glorious past, and others will run past you.

Peter's Failure and Restoration

We cannot allow the glorious past, the victories of the past, instead of being a blessing, to be a weight upon us. I don't think there is a better example to me of the sins of the past, the failures of the past, being a weight upon us than Peter.

So I'm going to quote Peter again, because I feel it is such a vivid picture of allying failures, even in the home, to drag it with us, instead of just putting it behind us. We would say Peter was not what he should have been.

So we say, not Peter, when the Lord Jesus said, he must feed his sheep and he must strengthen the brethren. Not Peter, who had failed so sore, denied his Lord and even swore to feed his sheep he could not be, strengthening others.

No, not he. Thrice before the gathered crowd he had failed so coarse, so loud. Surely he should shrink away, he who went so far astray. Sorrow, repentance, deep regret. Oh, the rash words that fear begets.

Seeing his master's saddened glance, oh, that he had another chance. Peter, I know you failed me sore and I recall your boast before. Pardoned you are, I still decree, strengthen and feed my sheep for me.

Many have failed with fear, hard pressed. Many have failed when sore, oppressed. Like Peter, they sorrow bitterly. Oh, that the Lord would pardon me. Peter fulfilled his given task. Peter did all the Lord had asked.

Sweet the forgiveness was to him. Bury that failure, that public sin. Maybe you too have deep remorse. You too have stumbled on the course. Satan would keep you in his power. Seek God's forgiveness this very hour.

And you, who have never failed like him, why should you judge the weaker sin? Rather lift up the erring one, seeking forgiveness to God's own sins. Humbled but steadfast, they'll walk aright, they'll run aright, we should say.

Never to lean on their own might, rather to cling to the Lord, as they say, keeping them true to him all the way. Don't let us let the failures, whether it be in the home, before our husbands, before our children, the failures in front of others become a weight.

Childhood Hurts and Unresolved Wounds

Let us cast it behind us, as Peter did, because Peter did feed the sheep. He did strengthen the brethren, as God had planned for him to do. Now childhood hurt can also be a weight. I have spoken to people and the hurts of 60 years ago, 70 years ago, 30 years ago are so real to them that even speaking about them can make them burst into tears.

They've carried it with them. It hasn't been slung away. Some of us may have been deeply hurt as children. We may feel neglected, we might have come from unhappy homes and yet we have to lay aside every unnecessary weight and that includes the hurt that if we carry them with us they become a weight on our race.

Hobbies, Reading, and Spiritual Priorities

Another thing that can be a weight is hobbies. Now hobbies are a very good thing and I love working with my hands and drawing and doing all sorts of things but a hobby can also become a weight if a hobby is an obsession.

Now when Noel and Roy were small I had two boys close upon each other and I was sure that I would at least have about three girls next to me but the girls in the right but I started thinking well I'd like to make dolls so I went to a lady and had lessons and made porcelains two dolls a Hans and a G-map reproduction doll oh and I was into dolls and when I walked past the shop oh I used to pop in and look at the doll books and I knew all the names and I just went to town on this whole subject of dolls until God put up a red light and said no no no you're going you're spending too much time on this as a hobby and I stopped just to make sure that it isn't too much for me the very Hans that I made so I must bird ate off all the fingers.

But another thing that can be a hobby is reading. You know I love reading. Reading is a blessing to me. I read books and then when I've read the book I want to be a better person. That's right that's how it should be but a little old lady once said to me a godly little lady she said Jenny don't allow good books to come between you and God and when I take time to read I always remember that comment and I just say lord I love books.

Rejecting Negativity and Covetousness

If I had a choice I'd just be reading all the time but I mustn't allow it to come between me and God. Negativity can also really be a weight upon us. I've come across people who are so negative. One lady phoned me on the phone about a wonderful answer to prayer and I thought isn't it wonderful.

She's leaving negativity behind and I said oh isn't God good. But she said oh yes but everything is negative and that is really not glorifying to the lord and that will trip us out. It's a real weight.

Another girl I knew was also very depressive and negative and I visited a home where she came and the whole atmosphere of the home became negative with her there. So don't let us allow negativity to become a weight in our race.

Now the bible also talks about the besetting sin and the sin which God says be content with such things as you have in Hebrews 13 verse 5. I was with my mother in an antique shop. A dear little jewish lady had this shop and you could have beautiful things.

Furniture Victorian Edwardian Georgian beautiful beautiful pieces of furniture French. And the little lady turned to me and said Jenny isn't it wonderful that you are a missionary. Because a missionary cannot covet.

I thought goodness that is a statement. I thought about it for a moment and I thought no I'll keep my eyes on Jesus who ran ahead of me until I crossed the ribbon into eternity. Amen.