The Man Who Finished the Race

At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semifinal with one goal — to finish what he had started. Halfway around the track, his hamstring snapped. He crumpled to the ground as the other runners surged past him. The race was over. Everyone knew it.

Everyone except Derek.

He pulled himself up and began hobbling toward the finish line, his face twisted in agony. Then something remarkable happened. His father, Jim Redmond, pushed past security, ran onto the track, and wrapped his arm around his son. "We started this together," he said. "We're going to finish this together." With 65,000 people on their feet weeping, father and son crossed the finish line as one.

The writer of Hebrews understood this kind of perseverance. "Let us run with endurance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2). Notice — it does not say we run alone. When our legs give out, when the injury of grief or doubt or failure drops us to the track, our Heavenly Father pushes past every barrier to reach us. He wraps His arm around us and whispers, "We will finish this together."

You may be limping today. You may feel like the race is lost. But the God who began a good work in you is not sitting in the stands. He is already on the track.