All Christians are in a race, and the course has already been set. There will be uphill ad downhill portions, let us not give up in the trials.

Acts 20:17-27 (HCSB)
¹⁷ Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. ¹⁸ And when they came to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time— ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews— ²⁰ and that I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house. ²¹ I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

²² “And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, bound in my spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there, ²³ except that in town after town the Holy Spirit testifies to me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me. ²⁴ But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵ “And now I know that none of you will ever see my face again—everyone I went about preaching the kingdom to. ²⁶ Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of everyone’s blood, ²⁷ for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole plan of God.