The Finish Line That Mattered

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semifinal carrying the weight of years — four surgeries, a withdrawal from Seoul in 1988, and the quiet fear that his body might betray him again. When the gun fired, he ran beautifully. Then, halfway down the backstretch, his hamstring snapped.

Redmond crumpled to the track. Stretcher bearers moved toward him, but he waved them off. He stood. He began to hop toward the finish line, his face twisted in agony. And then, from the stands, a large man in a T-shirt pushed past security and wrapped his arm around Derek's waist. It was Jim Redmond, his father. "We started this together," Jim told his son. "We're going to finish this together." With 65,000 people rising to their feet in tears, father and son crossed the finish line.

Derek Redmond didn't win a medal that day. He won something the scoreboard couldn't measure.

Hope doesn't promise us a pain-free race. Scripture never guarantees that our hamstrings won't tear on the backstretch of life. But the prophet Isaiah reminds us, "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength." When we collapse on the track, our Heavenly Father pushes past every barrier to reach us and whispers, "We'll finish this together."

You are never hopping toward the finish line alone.