Running Our Race
Prior to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania was just another marathon runner. An Olympic caliber runner, yes. He had won marathons in Africa, running with times under 2 ½ hours.
He easily qualified for the Olympics. But in Mexico City, Akhwari encountered an obstacle he had never faced before: the altitude, which caused his legs to cramp severely. Still, he kept running. Then, about halfway through the race, he tangled with some other runners and fell. He dislocated his knee, scraped up his leg, and hurt his shoulder as he fell. But he didn’t stop. With terrible injuries and cramped muscles slowing him, he labored on and finished the race. He was one of seventy-five people who started the race, and the last of fifty-seven to finish it.
When he finally entered the arena for the final lap, only a couple thousand people were there to see him complete the race. He finished dead last, more than an hour behind the winner. A cheer went up for this brave runner as he circled the now darkened track. Although it seemed that Akhwari had lost the race, everyone who saw him finish knew he was a winner.
In an interview later on, a reporter asked, “Why didn’t you quit when you were hurt and bruised, bloody, discouraged? Why didn’t you quit?” His answer: “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”
Rick Warren, Daniel Amen, and Mark Hyman, The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life, Kindle ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2013), Location 3733.
How many times have you heard that the Christian life is a marathon, not a sprint? The apostle Paul knew this. He makes references to running a race throughout his writings. Let’s look at some of those.
Why we run: “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings. Do you not knowthat in a racea all therunners run,but only one receives the prize?Run in such a way as to take the prize. Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable.…”. 1 Corinthians 9:23-25
How we run: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us.” Hebrews 12:1
“I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14
Victory in running: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. / From now on there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:7-8
So what keeps us from running our race well? We all face times when it seems too much to keep running. Illness, difficult relationships, financial problems, and a number of other circumstances may cause us to take our gaze off Jesus. Sometimes our past weighs us down. Sometimes fear of the future slows our race. Often spiritual battles overwhelm us. But God calls us to finish our race.
God did not save us to start our race and then quit. He called us to persevere despite hardships and obstacles. The good news is that He has given us everything we need to finish well. Read Ephesians 1 and rejoice at the multitude of spiritual blessings that are ours as a child of God. We live with a greater purpose than any Olympian runner – to glorify our Lord and Savior. May we “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross…” Hebrews 12:2. Jesus endured the cross for our sake. Let us run our race well for His sake!
See you next week!
