Finish the Race

It was one of those beautiful spring days. The trees were filled with baby leaves enough to fill the void of winter with bright green evidence of new life. Flowers were blooming. The air was warm, not hot or cold, just perfect sweater weather. And we were going for a walk. The entire student body and faculty of Grant Elementary School in Macomb, Illinois were walking the 6 or so blocks to the football stadium of Western Illinois University to watch the Special Olympics!
There was excitement in the air as the children and teachers settled in their seats and participants milled around on the track and field below. I looked across the field and saw some of the participants warming up for shot put and javelin throwing. Others were stretching in preparation for high jumping or running. They were of every size and description. Some looked strong and healthy. Many were Downs Syndrome children, some were in wheelchairs, others were in leg braces. I watched as one child in a wheelchair, both legs gone, was lifted onto the hard surface of the track just to be free from the chair for a short time.
Directly below our seats a group of young people were preparing to run the 100 yard dash. They lined up across the track in perfect starting position, the gun went off, and off they ran as fast as they could go. All accept for one little Downs Syndrome girl. She barely got started before she tripped and fell in a heap to the hard surface of the track. It seemed the entire audience gasped in unison as she fell to the ground. All eyes were on the girl. No one even paid attention to who was winning the race. The attention was on her.
She cried over and over again, "I can't do it! I can't run the race!" Suddenly her coach, a young college girl, came running from the side lines shouting, "Get up and run! You can do it! Don't give up! Run the race!"
"I can't!" the little girl cried again. Then something happened that I shall never forget. The little girl's coach took her by the hand, helped her to her feet, brushed her off, and said, "Come on. We'll run the race together."
The crowd went wild, cheering her on as she headed for the finish line! The runners who had already finished the race cheered her on from the finish line! At that moment it didn't matter who had run the fastest and finished first. It only mattered that this little girl finish the race she had begun.
Philippians 3:13b-14 says, "But one thing I do: 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." There is so much in life to trip us up, make us fall, cause us to think we are of little use to anyone anymore, make us believe we can't finish the race. Then our precious coach, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, comes running to us, takes us by the hand, and says, "Come on. We'll run the race together. I will never leave you or forsake you. You will make it to the finish line where there is a prize awaiting you."
You don't have to be the strongest runner, or the fastest. You don't have to finish first. You just have to run the race with your little hand in His big hand until you reach the finish line. There He will declare, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!"