The Race<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cQuit!\u201d \u201cGive up, you\u2019re beaten,\u201d they shout and plead there\u2019s just too much against you now, this time you can\u2019t succeed. And as I start to hang my head in front of failure\u2019s face, my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.<\/p>\n
And hope refills my weakened will as I recall that scene, for just the thought of that short race rejuvenates my being. A children\u2019s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well, excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn\u2019t hard to tell.<\/p>\n
They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place. Their fathers watched from off the side, each cheering for his son, and each boy hoped to show his dad that he would be the one.<\/p>\n
The whistle blew and off they went, young hearts and hopes of fire, to win, to be the hero there, was each young boy\u2019s desire. One boy in particular, his dad was in the crowd, was running near the lead and thought \u201cMy dad will be so proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
But as he speeded down the field across a shallow dip, the little boy who thought to win, lost his step and slipped. Trying hard to catch himself, his hands, flew out to brace, and mid the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face.<\/p>\n
So, down he fell and with him hope, he couldn\u2019t win it now. Embarrassed, sad, he only wished to disappear somehow. But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face, which to the boy so clearly said, \u201cGet up and win that race!\u201d<\/p>\n
He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that\u2019s all, and ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall. So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win, his mind went faster than his legs, he slipped and fell again.<\/p>\n
He wished that he had quit before with one disgrace. \u201cI\u2019m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn\u2019t try to race.\u201d But, in the laughing crowd he searched and found his father\u2019s face, that steady look that said again, \u201cGet up and win that race!\u201d<\/p>\n
So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last, if I\u2019m going to gain those yards, he thought, I\u2019ve got to run real fast. Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight or ten, but trying so hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.<\/p>\n
Defeat! He lay there silently, a tear dropped from his eye, there\u2019s no sense running anymore\u2014three strikes I\u2019m out\u2014why try? The will to rise had disappeared, all hope had fled away, so far behind, so error prone, closer all the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve lost, so what\u2019s the use,\u201d he thought, \u201cI\u2019ll live with my disgrace.\u201d But then he thought about his dad, who soon he\u2019d have to face. \u201cGet up,\u201d an echo sounded low. \u201cGet up and take your place. You were not meant for failure here, get up and win that race.\u201d<\/p>\n
With borrowed will, \u201cGet up,\u201d it said, \u201cyou haven\u2019t lost at all, for winning is not more than this; to rise each time you fall.\u201d So, up he rose to run once more, and with a new commit, he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn\u2019t quit.<\/p>\n
So far behind the others now, the most he\u2019d ever been, still he gave it all he had and ran as though to win. Three times he\u2019d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again. Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.<\/p>\n
They cheered the winning runner as he crossed, first place; head high and proud and happy\u2014no falling, no disgrace. but, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, last place, the crowd gave him the greater cheer for finishing the race.<\/p>\n
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud, you would have thought he\u2019d won the race, to listen to the crowd. And to his dad he sadly said, \u201cI didn\u2019t do so well.\u201d To me, you won,\u201d his father said. \u201cYou rose each time you fell.\u201d<\/p>\n
And now when things seem dark and hard and difficult to face, the memory of that little boy helps me in my own race. For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all. And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cQuit!\u201d \u201cGive up, you\u2019re beaten,\u201d they still shout in my face, but another voice within me says, \u201cGet up and win that race.\u201d<\/p>\n
Family Times<\/p>\n
Resources<\/b><\/p>\n
\u2022 cf. 1 Cor. 15:58, in file<\/p>\n
\u2022 Who You Are When No One\u2019s Looking, Bill Hybels, IVP, 1987, p. 47<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Race \u201cQuit!\u201d \u201cGive up, you\u2019re beaten,\u201d they shout and plead there\u2019s just too much against you now, this time you can\u2019t succeed. And as I start to hang my head in front of failure\u2019s face, my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race. And hope refills my weakened will as I … Continue reading “Endurance, cf. faithfulness, perseverance, success”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-604","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}