Recently, my daughter shared a story with me that God also spoke to me through. She said that she was in a race with a group of other children. One of the girls was a bit older, taller, and a much stronger runner than she was. This was confirmed by the older girl taking first place during their second race.
However, something occurred in their first race that allowed my daughter to take first place. Whenever the race started, this older girl wasn’t sure where to run. She took off quickly and started in the lead, but she ran to the wrong place. I would imagine that this girl didn’t even realize this at first. She was probably excited and confident knowing that she was in the lead with no one else nearby. However, that joy would have been quickly interrupted once she realized what had taken place.
How many times does this occur with us in life? We proudly do our best with everything we have only to find ourselves falling short of where we expected to be. It may not be that we aren’t good enough. In fact, we may be as good and strong as we can possibly be. However, we don’t clearly see and understand God’s purpose for our lives.
We may not be certain of His will for our lives and therefore aren’t sure where our finish line is nor the course that leads to it. Or perhaps we may know these things and have just gotten ourselves off track. Life can be busy and hectic and there is no lack of distractions which can all redirect us from what we are supposed to be doing. Somewhere during the race of life, we were lead astray and we may not even have noticed it.
Don’t let anyone or anything cut in on you from running the race of life with the course and finish line that God has set for you always in mind! Also, there’s good news! If we find ourselves offtrack or we aren’t sure what God’s purpose is for our lives, God is eagerly waiting to give us clear direction for where we need to be and will forgive us for straying off course. By His grace, He gives us everything that we need to finish strong! Open up His word, listen to His voice, and allow Him to set the course to your victory!
Hebrews 12:1-2
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Galatians 5:7-10
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.