1Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
God will give us the toughness to face the obstacles that come our way - the temptation to sin, the difficult decisions we have to make, the navigation of relationship struggles, and negative circumstances that we encounter. But, with God's grace and the inner strength that follows from knowing Him, He gives us the spiritual resources necessary to endure, and in so doing, to develop a deeper faith and a more Christlike character, so that we are walking with a sense of His presence with us each day.
The apostle Paul, after he became a Christian, endured many hardships for the sake of the gospel. You could say that he had a unique form of toughness that sustained him as he sought to follow God. He writes in 2nd Corinthians 6:
4But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses,5in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings;
But catch the pivot here...6by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love,7by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,8by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;9as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed;10as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.
It was a special night in Canton, Ohio, as 7 new inductees entered the NFL Hall of Fame. Perhaps the most moving moment involved one of the new members re-connecting with someone who has been part of the Hall for over a decade. It came at the end of former Buffalo Bills receiver Andre Reed's speech. According to the Buffalo News, Reed, who played for the Bills from 1985 through 1999, caught 951 passes for over 13,000 yards and 87 touchdowns. When he ended his career, he ranked third in NFL history in catches and sixth in receiving yards.
During his speech, he paid tribute to that group of guys who went to 4 Super Bowls together, and at the end of it, he caught a pass - from Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, the quarterback. Of Kelly, Andre Reed, said:
But the toughest individual I've ever met in my life is Jim Kelly, No. 12. How do I find the words, man, to say anything about you? You're the reason why I'm standing here today. Your belief in me that I could get the job done at any time will resonate with me the rest of my life. Every time I looked into your eyes in the huddle I knew we could get it done. I knew we had a chance to win. Leadership beyond reasonable doubt. Those around you gravitated to your leadership and what you said. You taught us not to quit.
Toughness - that's a word that could be synonymous with the name, Jim Kelly. Not only did he endure battles on the football field, but there have been several tough seasons in his life after his retirement from football. His son, Hunter, died in 2005 at the age of 8 as the result of Krabbe leukodystrophy, a fatal nervous system disease.
And, Jim Kelly has also been fighting cancer. Within the past year, as the Buffalo News reports, Kelly’s cancer has returned. The reports says that, "He’s on the anxious verge of learning how much impact chemotherapy and radiation treatments had on the cancerous tumors in his head. He will undergo an MRI within the next couple of weeks at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan." He had surgery on his jaw last year to remove cancer, and now, according to Sports Illustrated, he is experiencing cancer that is dangerously close to the carotid artery in his head. It’s too perilous to operate now, even if the cancer that has spread up his infraorbital nerve can be neutralized, because there’s no guarantee all of it can be found and removed. There are countless microscopic cancer cells throughout his head.
Here's what he told SI's Peter King: “There is no way I’d be here without my faith..." According to the story, he went on to say:
"...It’s been such a roller coaster. So many things. The Super Bowl losses, the fabulous career, my son born sick, making the Hall of Fame, my son dying, two plates and 10 screws in my back after major surgery, one plate and six screws in my neck after another surgery, a double hernia, the cancer, surgery on my jaw, the cancer coming back, now what I’m facing. But …”
He looked at Erin.
“When you’re going through pain, you’re what?” he said.
Not even a millisecond elapsed.
“Kelly tough,” said the eldest daughter of Jim Kelly.
Kelly told the Buffalo News on Saturday afternoon in Canton, "A year ago, for one, it was hard to accept...Number two, it was hard to realize what I was going to have to go through. And number three, I never thought it would be coming back, and it did. I’m still not out of the woods yet." He went on to say, “I just wake up each and every day and say my prayers and hopefully, when they look at the scans, there’s not going to be anything there.”
Andre Reed acknowledged Jim Kelly's toughness in his Hall of Fame speech:
Jim, you have endured a lot in your life, the loss of a son, and most recently your battle with cancer. You're an inspiration to all those you touch. I'm honored to call you my teammate, my friend, and my family member, and now a fellow Hall of Famer. I love you, man.
Through their Hunter's Hope Foundation, the Kelly family helps to provide encouragement to children and their families that are suffering from Krabbe. A recent press release highlighted that their story was told over the weekend on ESPN and during halftime of the Hall of Fame game on NBC.
I had the honor of meeting Jim and Jill Kelly several years ago, along with their 2 daughters - Jill has been back on the program since then, but before the cancer ordeal that they are currently enduring. And, from the example of Jim Kelly, each of us can be inspired to develop toughness in our own lives. Think about the adversity that this man has endured, but yet, he continues to persevere and hope in the Lord. God can give us the strength, the toughness, we need, to face life's challenges.
And, the way we respond to challenges can be a testimony of God's faithfulness. When people observe our faith in action, as they see the expression of Jesus through us in dealing with the situations we encounter, we make a powerful statement about the reality of the risen Lord, who is living in us.
I had the honor of meeting Jim and Jill Kelly several years ago, along with their 2 daughters - Jill has been back on the program since then, but before the cancer ordeal that they are currently enduring. And, from the example of Jim Kelly, each of us can be inspired to develop toughness in our own lives. Think about the adversity that this man has endured, but yet, he continues to persevere and hope in the Lord. God can give us the strength, the toughness, we need, to face life's challenges.
And, the way we respond to challenges can be a testimony of God's faithfulness. When people observe our faith in action, as they see the expression of Jesus through us in dealing with the situations we encounter, we make a powerful statement about the reality of the risen Lord, who is living in us.
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