Have you ever hiked toward a goal, looking ahead for a marker, something, anything to help you persevere?
I sat in the chapel and listened to the university provost speak of a trek she made over the summer, one across the flat prairie lands of America.  She displayed a photo of a single pole, a marker, one that she was promised to see every mile, but one that seemed to never appear.  She talked of the fatigue she felt as she hiked, of the fear that she may never reach the end, and of the joy when suddenly she saw a glimmer ahead in the distance.
“See.  There,” her husband said as he pointed way ahead in the distance.
She said she squinted her eyes, thinking she too could see the mile marker, but was it really there or were her eyes playing tricks on her?  She trusted the man that hiked there on the “path” where really there was no set path as they hiked across the prairie lands.  The tall grass could be seen in all directions for as far as the eye could see, but there was her husband pointing off in the distance, smiling as his arm stretched forward, as he exclaimed, “It’s there.  Trust.  Soon we will see it with our own eyes, but for now we just keep walking, keep going forward.  We can do it.  We have come this far.  We can make it.”

She spoke of her husband, of his faith.
She spoke of herself, of her faith.
She spoke of God, of how we can have faith in Him.

As believers, we need to have the heart of finishers, looking ahead into eternity, trusting God, and representing Him to the world of people surrounding us.  WHY?  That’s a really easy question to answer—-God Always Finishes What He Starts.
The Bible tells us—

Don’t give up.
Keep Hiking!!!
Keep Walking within God’s Will. 
When we are tempted to give up, to sit down, and to cry out, “Enough!  I am done,” LET US NOT—Give Up.
Our Fear.
Our Weariness.
Our Aging & the Passing Days of Our Time.

We may be so tired of waiting for something specific we have prayed for, but we should never stop [praying] & we should never stop [believing].
If God ever wants us to give up, He will reveal it through prayer, but until such time, keep stepping forward, keep pressing forward, keep hiking toward the goal, for God does not lie!!!
He who began a good work within us at our salvation will finish what He began in us.

May we endure.
May we keep our eyes upon Jesus.
May we dwell within His presence as He strengthens us.
May we have the heart of a finisher as we trust God—completely—as we keep hiking forward, regardless of how challenging and how tired we may be.
May we encourage one another with these words–“God does not lie.  No Never.  He promises us eternity within His presence.  God will bring us safely into His glory.”

“Hey. Ho!!!!!  I see the marker there, way ahead, up there in the distance. Let us not turn back now.  God will see us through, and He promises to walk us home.”