Run the Race

Run the Race                                                 
They said Secretariat was a horse “built by God”.  Physically, Secretariat was built perfectly to run. His heart was twice as big as any other horse but he also had endurance, a rare combination. He seemed to take pleasure in starting out in last place, just to pass everyone on his way to a new track or race record. But when Secretariat ran the 3rd race in the Triple Crown in 1973, he started out first and kept on going! By the time he finished, he was a full 31 lengths ahead of Sham who ran the race of his life, only to come in a distant second.

In the 2010 movie “Secretariat”, the groom played Gospel music when he was grooming Secretariat and it was like the horse knew he had been created to run for God's pleasure, and to win. When he didn't win, he would go to the back of his stall and "think" about it. The next race, he would win with a new record! 

As I watched this movie, I understood life in a new way. God takes pleasure in hiding treasure so that man has the pleasure of discovering it. God doesn't withhold things from us, He invites, challenges, and cajoles us into really pursuing something! He invites us to allow the Holy Spirit to put wings on our feet and the wind at our back and do what we were built to do!

There have been many things in my heart over the years: writing books, doing concerts, seeing whole communities live for God, seeing nations come to the Lord in a day… I have seen partial fulfillment of some of these things, but I want to be more like Jesus and Paul, who seeing the prize set before them, ran their races and did not falter or give up when things got tough.

The Race of Faith  Hebrews 12:1b-2  (NKJV)

12 1…let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Please, Jesus, help me to push past the things that would distract or hinder me. Let me become stronger in the process, and if I don't get it the first time, give me the strength to get up and go at it again until I get it right!

Thank You, Jesus, for the example of Secretariat. Thank You that You have built me to run the race that is set before me. Let me leave the devil in the dust, a full 31 lengths behind me.  Thanks!

- HMR <><