When His Father Ran to Him

On August 3, 1992, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semi-final at the Barcelona Olympics. He had endured multiple surgeries just to reach that starting line. Everything he had hoped for was 45 seconds away.

Then, halfway around the turn, his hamstring snapped. He crumpled to the track. Sixty-five thousand people gasped. The medical crew rushed toward him with a stretcher, but Redmond refused it. He stood up. Sobbing, he began to hop toward the finish line.

Then a large man in a T-shirt pushed past security and ran onto the track. It was Jim Redmond — Derek's father. He wrapped his arm around his son and whispered, "You don't have to do this." Derek said, "Yes, I do." His father replied, "Then we're going to finish this together."

And they did. Father and son crossed that line while the entire stadium stood and wept.

Hope is not the absence of pain. Hope is the presence of a Father who runs to you when you fall. Isaiah wrote, "Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:30-31).

You may be limping today. You may feel like the dream is over. But El Shaddai, the Almighty, has not stayed in the stands. He has come down to where you are, and He whispers the same thing: "We're going to finish this together."