This passage challenges us to find God’s strength in a long race, and to see God’s hand in hard times. The Christian life is described as a long race, in which we need to strive with endurance; which we can only do as we look to Jesus for empowerment and strength. Further, it encourages us that hard times for the believer is God’s loving discipline, the presence of which assures us that God is our Father and is working for our good.