The Marathon Runner Who Skipped Water Stations

In 2007, a British runner named David Rogers lined up for the London Marathon brimming with confidence. He had trained for months, finished two previous marathons, and told his wife he planned to set a personal record. So when he passed the first water station at mile three, he waved it off. Too early, he thought. At mile eight, he skipped another. He felt strong. By mile sixteen, his legs began to cramp. By mile twenty, he collapsed on the pavement near Canary Wharf, severely dehydrated, and had to be carried off the course on a stretcher.

Rogers knew everything about marathon running. He had the experience, the training, the knowledge. What he lacked was humility. He assumed his past success guaranteed his future finish.

Paul warns the Corinthian church about exactly this kind of overconfidence. The Israelites had every spiritual advantage — the cloud, the sea, the manna, the water from the rock. They had witnessed the power of the Almighty firsthand. Yet most of them fell in the wilderness because they presumed upon God's grace while chasing their own appetites.

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall," Paul writes. But he doesn't leave us on the pavement. The God who sets the course also places the water stations. Every temptation comes with an exit — a way through that El Shaddai faithfully provides. The question is whether we are humble enough to take it.