PinkPebbles
Well-Known Member
Gordon McDonald writes about an experience in high school. He says, “Running track in my prep school days taught me a valuable lesson. I was at the Pennsylvania Relays, a famous Eastern track meet, and our relay team was going to run in the championship race.
I was the lead-off man and in the second lane. The man in the first lane held the 100-meter dash record for prep school runners. He also held a record for arrogance. . . . When I got to the line and we were putting our starting blocks down, he said, ‘May the best man win. I’ll be waiting for you at the finish line.’
We went into the blocks. The gun sounded. He took off, and the other seven of us settled in behind him. We went around the first turn and down the back stretch. About 180 meters into the race, I suddenly saw the record holder in front of me, holding his side, bent over, and groaning as he jogged along. We all passed him like he was standing still. Because I’m such a gentleman, I waited for him at the finish line.
At the end of the race my coach took me aside. ‘I hope you’ve learned a lesson today. It makes little difference whether you hold the record for the 100-meter dash if the race is 400-meters long.’”
The race we are in is a long one, and it calls for endurance not speed. It’s not how you begin the race, but how you finish that counts. As the Bible says, “This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints” (Revelation 13:10).
When McDonald was running that race, he could have given up. He could have said, “This is useless, I’m not going to win the race anyway.” He could have let what others said discourage him, but he ran the race with his whole heart. He did not give up. He did not quit. He did not run half-heartedly. He gave it all he had. His coach commended him for it, and reminded him at the end that it was because he was a long distance runner that he finished the race well.
The Bible says, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). The race is to those who have learned to endure. They wait with patience. They wait expectantly. They live in faithfulness to God whether their faithfulness seems to be noticed and rewarded or not.
Hear the Word of God that says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, KJV).
Be Blessed.
By Rodney Buchanan
I was the lead-off man and in the second lane. The man in the first lane held the 100-meter dash record for prep school runners. He also held a record for arrogance. . . . When I got to the line and we were putting our starting blocks down, he said, ‘May the best man win. I’ll be waiting for you at the finish line.’
We went into the blocks. The gun sounded. He took off, and the other seven of us settled in behind him. We went around the first turn and down the back stretch. About 180 meters into the race, I suddenly saw the record holder in front of me, holding his side, bent over, and groaning as he jogged along. We all passed him like he was standing still. Because I’m such a gentleman, I waited for him at the finish line.
At the end of the race my coach took me aside. ‘I hope you’ve learned a lesson today. It makes little difference whether you hold the record for the 100-meter dash if the race is 400-meters long.’”
The race we are in is a long one, and it calls for endurance not speed. It’s not how you begin the race, but how you finish that counts. As the Bible says, “This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints” (Revelation 13:10).
When McDonald was running that race, he could have given up. He could have said, “This is useless, I’m not going to win the race anyway.” He could have let what others said discourage him, but he ran the race with his whole heart. He did not give up. He did not quit. He did not run half-heartedly. He gave it all he had. His coach commended him for it, and reminded him at the end that it was because he was a long distance runner that he finished the race well.
The Bible says, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). The race is to those who have learned to endure. They wait with patience. They wait expectantly. They live in faithfulness to God whether their faithfulness seems to be noticed and rewarded or not.
Hear the Word of God that says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, KJV).
Be Blessed.
By Rodney Buchanan
