You Don't Have to Finish Alone

At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, British sprinter Derek Redmond lined up for the 400-meter semifinal as a medal favorite. He had trained for this moment his entire life. Then, about 250 meters in, his hamstring snapped. He crumpled to the track in agony.

Medical staff rushed toward him with a stretcher, but Redmond waved them off. Tears streaming down his face, he pulled himself up and began hobbling toward the finish line. He was determined to finish — alone, broken, on his own terms.

Then something happened that 65,000 spectators would never forget. 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's shoulder and whispered, "You don't have to do this alone. We're going to finish this together."

And they did. Father and son crossed the finish line as the entire stadium stood and wept.

So many of us limp through life convinced that freedom means independence — needing no one, proving we are strong enough on our own. But that is not freedom. That is a prison of pride. Real freedom is the moment you stop fighting alone and let the Father come alongside you.

Paul wrote to the Galatians, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." The yoke he was talking about? It is the exhausting belief that everything depends on you.

True freedom is not finishing alone. It is letting your Father carry you home.