The Race He Never Trained For

In the summer of 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell arrived at the Paris Olympics as the favorite in the 100-meter dash. But when he learned the heats would be held on a Sunday, he refused to run. For Liddell, honoring the Lord's Day was not negotiable — even with an Olympic gold medal at stake.

The pressure was enormous. The British Olympic Committee, the press, even the Prince of Wales urged him to reconsider. Liddell would not budge. Instead, he entered the 400 meters — an event he had barely trained for, a race that demanded an entirely different strategy than his explosive sprint.

Before the final, a team masseur slipped a folded note into his hand. On it was written 1 Samuel 2:30: "Those who honor Me I will honor."

Liddell ran the race of his life. He not only won the gold but set a world record of 47.6 seconds.

Trust does not always look like confidence. Sometimes it looks like obedience when the outcome is uncertain. Liddell could not see the gold medal when he withdrew from the 100 meters. He could only see the God he had promised to follow.

The writer of Proverbs understood this: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" (Proverbs 3:5). The Almighty does not always reveal the finish line before He asks us to run. But when we trust Him enough to obey, He has a way of writing a story far greater than the one we had planned.