Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but [only] one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. — 1 Corinthians 9:24 NASB
Winning the Race
In God’s Word, the living out of our lives is compared to running a race.
Some of us run with great stamina. Some of us run with debilitating physical limitations. Some of us run through rough and rocky terrain. Some of us run up great mountains of massive difficulties. Some of us come up against seemingly insurmountable roadblocks. Some of us run while facing great opposition and while enduring fiery darts of the enemy’s lies while fending off great moments of temptation.
While all of our races may seem to be going at different paces, the reality is that we all run the race of life. The question becomes, how do we run our race in such a way as to win?
We all face emotional wounds as we run our races. We all face seasons of sorrow. We all face temptations and seasons of hardship and loss. We all face moments of tripping and falling. What do we do when we face such moments? We keep running through those times. Just because the pace may seem hampered or slowed does not mean we stop running the race. A new creation in Christ receives the grace to keep running.
What do we do when we fall while running a race?
We get up from where we fell. We do not head back to the starting line. We get up from where we fell and we head toward the finish line! We head toward Jesus! The only failure is the one who falls and chooses to not get back up and keep running!
A great example of this is found in a scene from the 1981 film ‘Chariots of Fire’. The protagonist, missionary Eric Liddell, is running a race and is knocked down only a few strides into the event. Rather than giving up and conceding defeat, he got up from where he fell, headed toward the finish line…and won! Why did he win? Because he kept running the race!
One of my favorite scenes from that same film which inspires me to keep running my race takes place when Eric Liddell is trying out for the 1924 Olympics. Someone asked him why he ran. His response? “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.” God made us each with and for a purpose…to worship Him…and when we worship Him, we feel His pleasure…His deep and massive love for us.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. — Ephesians 2:10 NASB
What are we racing for?
Our ultimate goal is to know God and to be known by Him. This is true intimacy with Christ. Relationship. The exchanging of lives. Jesus gave up His life to give me life. I give up my life that I may know Him…and that others might come to know Him through the way I run the race of my life.
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 3:14 NASB
What kind of race are we in?
We are running a marathon. Our race begins the moment we are conceived and ends the moment we meet Jesus face to face. A marathon is a race of endurance. Granted, there will be moments when we are required to sprint…moments when we feel as if we are moving at a snail’s pace…moments when we realize we are also running a relay within the course of our personal marathon—the understanding that we are to pass the baton of faith to others along the way, leaving a trail of believers in the long race of the life we live.
Running a marathon requires that we know when to change the pace and the way we do that is by fixing our eyes on Jesus…and pressing on toward Him regardless of the storms and darkness we must run through at times.
What do we do when physical strength is diminished?
According to James 1:2-4, the testing of our faith produces endurance. This should be an ‘aha’ moment for every believer. My faith has been tested by the persecution I have had to endure throughout my adult life for daring to share my testimony of deliverance. With each insult hurled my way, I asked for and received God’s grace. Persecution is not fun, but God’s grace has built up my endurance. God does not even waste my moments of weakness! He uses that weakness to build up my endurance for the long haul.
Consider it all joy, my brothers [and sisters,] when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have [its] perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. — James 1:2-4 NASB
The diagnosis of Parkinson’s has been much more difficult to face than even the times of persecution. Even though I have had my life threatened at times due to my testimony, having my life threatened by a degenerative disease has taken my need for grace to endure to a level I never imagined I would have to face in this life. To be honest, I naively believed that if I could face the level of persecution I have had to endure, I could face anything.
Persecution came and went and I came out of it stronger for having gone through it, but Parkinson’s affects my brain and makes dealing with temptation exponentially more difficult. The lies of the enemy seem even more intense than I ever felt in the past because my physical fatigue makes fighting for the truth a physical battle in addition to the mental and spiritual battles those lies already are.
My remedy for this new and heavy weight of intensity? Surround myself with people who will help me recognize the lies when my physical body/brain literally has difficulty separating the physical from the mental and spiritual aspects of the battle. I run my race with a team of fellow believers who I can turn to for help. My wife is a truth seeker and truth teller. My children fight with me and for me. My grandchildren give me focus on how to most effectively pass the baton of the faith relay aspect of my race and give me inspiration and a sense of purpose and simple joy.
You will make known to me the way of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
— Psalm 16:11 NASB
What do we do when unavoidable roadblocks or weather or terrain changes come our way?
We serve a God Who is able to move mountains. We serve a God Who is able to level the terrain. We have a God Who is able to go around, over, or through any roadblock the enemy might place in our way. Our God is the Way Maker! That is why it is vital that we keep our eyes focused on the finish line at all times. We must fix our eyes on Jesus. Jesus is, in my opinion, the Answer to any question asked…and He wastes nothing. He does not waste our sorrow. He does not waste our suffering. He does not waste our woundings. He does not even waste our failures.
The most wonderful news about the race we are running is two-fold. God causes even the wrong turns we take in life for our good and for His glory…and the ultimate reality is the simple truth that in the end…we win!
How do we identify ourselves when we race with a limp? I have run my race with a limp for quite some time. The stigma of my past is like an injury that will follow me wherever I go. That is simple truth. I am healed but a scar remains that let’s everyone who comes to know me understand that I once walked in depravity and darkness…yet that same scar tells the story that I went through something horrible but lived to tell about it! The scars I have gained through the course of my race testify to the power and love of Jesus Christ.
Just as I do not perceive or regard myself as a recovering homosexual, I do not perceive myself as even having Parkinson’s. I know that sounds crazy, but why should I identify myself by a weakness or by an injury or by a past failure or by a present circumstance. I am a new creation in Christ and I deny myself and follow Him. This makes running the race of life seem more a grand and joyful adventure than a monotonous series of painful events. God made me to have fellowship with Him. He runs the race with me…and I run to win…and when I run, I feel His pleasure…
Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. — Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB
