Running to Feel God's Pleasure

In the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, there is a moment that has stayed with audiences for over four decades. Eric Liddell, the Scottish missionary and Olympic sprinter, is being pressured by his sister Jennie to abandon athletics and return to the mission field in China. She believes running is a distraction from his true calling. Eric takes her hands, looks at her gently, and says, "God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."

That single line captures something profound about how the Almighty designs purpose. Liddell did not see his speed as separate from his faith. He understood that the gifts woven into him by his Creator were not accidents to overcome but instruments to be played. He would eventually go to China as a missionary, and he would die there in a Japanese internment camp in 1945. But in that season of running, he was exactly where God wanted him.

Too many of us carry a quiet guilt about the things that make us come alive. We assume that if something brings us joy, it must be selfish, that real obedience should feel like drudgery. But what if the very thing that makes your heart race is the fingerprint of the One who formed you?

El Shaddai does not waste gifts. The abilities He placed in you — the ones that make you feel His pleasure when you use them — those are not distractions from your purpose. They are your purpose.