The Finish Line at Barcelona

On August 3, 1992, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semi-final at the Barcelona Olympics. He had trained for years, overcome multiple surgeries, and finally reached the biggest stage in athletics. Then, halfway around the bend, his hamstring snapped.

Redmond crumpled onto the track. Medical staff rushed toward him with a stretcher, but he waved them off. Through tears and searing pain, he pulled himself up and began hopping toward the finish line.

Then something extraordinary happened. A large man in a T-shirt pushed past security and onto the track. It was Jim Redmond — Derek's father. He wrapped his arm around his son's waist and whispered, "We're going to finish this together." And they did. Sixty-five thousand spectators rose to their feet, weeping and cheering, as father and son crossed the line.

The writer of Hebrews urges us to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1). But notice — the very next verse points us to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Perseverance was never meant to be a solo act. When your hamstring tears — when grief hits, when the diagnosis comes, when the marriage falters — the Father Himself steps onto the track.

You don't have to finish alone. He already promised you wouldn't.