The Sprinter Who Wouldn't Run

In the spring of 1924, Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell arrived in Paris for the Olympic Games as Britain's fastest man. Then he learned the 100-meter heats fell on a Sunday. Everyone expected him to run — the British Olympic Committee, the press, an entire nation eager for gold. The pressure was enormous. But Liddell quietly refused. His obedience to God's conviction mattered more than his country's expectations.

The backlash was swift. Newspapers called him a traitor. Officials fumed. Yet Liddell would not budge. He scratched his name from the 100-meter roster and entered the 400-meter race instead — an event no one believed he could win.

On July 11, Liddell exploded from the blocks and crossed the finish line in world-record time. A man who chose obedience over applause found that the Almighty had something greater waiting.

Zechariah faced his own moment of costly obedience. When the neighbors and relatives insisted the baby be named after his father — the expected, conventional choice — the old priest picked up a writing tablet and scratched five stunning words: "His name is John." In that act of simple faithfulness to what God had spoken, his sealed lips were opened, and praise poured out after months of silence.