When Running Becomes Worship

In Chariots of Fire, Eric Liddell — the Scottish missionary and Olympic sprinter — faces pressure from his sister Jennie to abandon athletics and return to the mission field in China. She believes he is wasting time, that his real calling waits overseas. Eric turns to her and says, with quiet conviction, "I believe God made me for a purpose — for China. But He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure."

That single line captures something profound about how the Almighty designs purpose. Liddell did not see his speed as a distraction from God's plan. He understood it as part of God's plan. His legs were as much a calling as his Bible. The track was as sacred as the pulpit.

We often divide our lives into sacred and secular — as if God only cares about the hours we spend in church or ministry. But the God who knit you together in your mother's womb gave you specific gifts for specific reasons. The way you teach, the way you build, the way you listen, the way you lead — these are not accidents. They are invitations.

Paul wrote to the Ephesians that we are "God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." You were not mass-produced. You were handcrafted. And when you walk in the purpose He designed for you, He feels the pleasure too.