Running His Own Race

In the 1924 Paris Olympics, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell stunned the world — not by winning, but by refusing to run. Liddell was the favorite in the 100 meters, but when he learned the heats fell on a Sunday, he withdrew. The British Olympic Committee pressured him. The press mocked him. An entire nation questioned his judgment.

Liddell switched to the 400 meters, a race he had barely trained for. Before the final, a masseur slipped a note into his hand. It read: "Those who honor Me, I will honor" — from 1 Samuel 2:30. Liddell ran that race with an unorthodox style, head tilted back, arms churning, and crossed the finish line in 47.6 seconds, a world record.

Years later, a missionary in China, Liddell was asked if he regretted giving up the 100 meters. He said simply, "God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."

That sentence holds a theology of purpose most of us spend a lifetime searching for. Purpose is not about doing what the crowd expects. It is not about the lane the world assigns you. Purpose is discovering the specific thing the Almighty shaped you to do — and doing it for His glory, even when it means walking away from what seems obvious.

The question is not whether God gave you a race to run. He did. The question is whether you are running His race or the one the crowd picked for you.