Finish the Race

I keep a note in my bible from a sermon I heard at Grace Bible Church in Aggieland - I don't remember the details of the sermon but I have written on a notecard the synopsis of an inspiring true story from the 1968 Summer Olympics.

A runner from Tanzania became very injured during the marathon in Mexico City, and he his leg was gushing blood for miles - he even developed a very visible limp. But the runner pressed on - and he crossed that finish line an hour and a half after the finisher, to the sound of hundreds of thousands of people cheering for him.

After the race, the Olympian was asked during an interview how he had found the strength to finish the 26.2 miles.

"You don't understand," said the runner. "My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start a race. They sent me to finish it."

http://speedendurance.com/2007/07/15/how-to-finish-a-marathon-1968-olympics-in-mexico-city/

I know I'm in need of that mentality when I start to give up - specifically when I start to give up hope while doing something that I know God has clearly brought me to for a reason. The Lord hasn't left us on Earth to start His work - he has us here to finish the task he has set out for each of us. Even if that task is as simple as walking in love everyday... or as difficult as running a marathon with a bloody leg.

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Phil 3:13-14