When we feel physically and spiritually weak

An encouraging word from Pastor Gary Fisher. He wrote this to his home church in Alabama. Aside from the few places I took editorial license and personalized it to myself and generalized it to the Body of Christ as a whole, the article is just as he wrote it. I hope his good word encourages and inspires you as it did me. ~~ Jocelyn

 

Running the Race… by Pastor Gary Fisher

It was 7 p.m. on October 20, 1968, at the Mexico City Olympics Stadium.  The skies were turning dark and the air was cooling down.  The last of the Olympic marathon runners were being assisted at the many first aid stations.  Over an hour earlier, Mamo Waldi of Ethiopia had charged across the finish line, winning the 26 mile, 385 yard race looking as strong and as vigorous as when he’d started.

As the last few spectators began preparing to leave, they heard police sirens and whistles entering the stadium.  The attention turned to the gate as a sole figure, wearing the colors of Tanzania, came limping into the arena.  His name was John Steven Aquari.  He was the last man to finish the marathon in 1968.  His leg was bandaged and bloody.  He had taken a bad fall early in the race.  Now, it was all he could do to limp his way around the track.  The remaining spectators rose to their feet and applauded as he completed that last lap.

When he finally crossed the finish line, one man asked the question all were wondering.  “You were badly injured and so far behind.  Why didn’t you quit?  Why didn’t you give up?”

Aquari answered with quiet dignity, “My country did not send me seven thousand miles to start this race.  My country sent me to finish.”  On that particular day he did not have the speed and endurance to win the race, but he certainly had the patience and fortitude to finish it.

What a lesson for some of us who started our race sooo long ago and seem to have lagged way behind others running our same course.  Some have fallen and injured ourselves along the way. 

Some ask, “Why don’t you just quit?”  Given the age and physical condition of some, why not just sit down and refuse to go any farther.  Some could point to past races they had run well and some they had even won. 

We could say our past accomplishments speak for us and we are satisfied with those victories.  But like John Steven Aquari, we reply, “Our Lord did not send us into this race to start it.  He sent us to finish it! And finish it we will.  We may be battered and bruised and bloodied by the strain of the race and the difficulty of the course, but we will with patience and fortitude cross the finish line.”

We have put our hands to the plow, and we cannot look back.  We are ever vigilant as we watch for the obstacles in our path.  Most certainly, God will lead us to that reward for a race well run and a course successfully completed

~~~

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