Running on God's Schedule

In the summer of 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell arrived at the Paris Olympics as the favorite in the 100 meters. Then he learned the heats were scheduled for a Sunday. Liddell believed the Sabbath belonged to God, and no gold medal could change that conviction.

The pressure was enormous. The British Olympic Committee pleaded with him. Newspapers called him a traitor. Prince Edward himself tried to persuade him to run. But Liddell had settled the matter long before the starting gun was ever loaded. His obedience was not a reaction to the moment — it was the overflow of a life already surrendered.

He switched to the 400 meters, a race he had barely trained for, run on a weekday. As he took his mark, a masseur slipped a folded note into his hand. It read: "Those who honor Me, I will honor." Liddell ran the race of his life and won gold in a world-record time of 47.6 seconds.

Here is what pastors and coaches both know: obedience rarely makes sense in the moment. It looks like losing your best event. It looks like stepping aside when everyone says step forward. But the God who asks for our obedience is the same God who holds every outcome in His hands.

The question is never whether obedience costs something. It always does. The question is whether we trust the One who asks it of us.