Finish the Race
by Ryan Duncan, Crosswalk.com Editor
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. – 2 Timothy 4:7
The other day I was flipping through videos of old Olympic events when I came across one you might be familiar with. It followed the 1992 men’s 400 meter track semi-final in Barcelona. The race started out like any other Olympic event. The runners took their mark, and at the sound of the starters pistol took off at lightning speed.
Halfway around the track though, a runner named Derek Redmond suddenly stumbled and fell. For several seconds he didn’t move. Then to the audience horror, Redmond got up and began to limp his way around the track. Instantly coaches and medics ran onto the field and tried to get Redmond off his feet, but the runner only pushed them off and kept going. Suddenly a man broke through security and came running to Redmond’s side, it was his father.
Taking his son by the hand, the older man held Redmond up as the two of them half walked; half stumbled their way across the finish line. Sometimes, there are things in this world that point more strongly to God than any Bible verse we can memorize, and I believe the story of Redmond and his father is one of them. Life is not a race we are going to win. At some point, whether because of this fallen world or our own sin nature, all of us will stumble and fall. Many people believe that these times of tragedy prove God either does not exist, or simply does not care what happens to us, but they are wrong.
True Christian grace is that in those moments of pain and defeat, God takes us by the hand, holds us up, and says, “Let’s finish together.”
Intersecting Faith and Life: Take ten minutes to pray, read scripture, or simply spend some time alone with our Heavenly Father.
Further Reading
>Isaiah 40:31
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