“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.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24
In March 2008, the Big Ten Indoor Track Championships were held at the University of Minnesota. Heather Dorniden represented Minnesota in the 600 meter race. Prior to the race she was reminded that the team’s long-time equipment manager had passed away that year. “And my coach said to me before the race, ‘Sometimes you don’t know if you have a next year or even a tomorrow, so just go out there and run it the best that you can’” remembered Heather.
There were four women in the final heat of the race. After two laps, only 7 meters separated the four. Then with 200 meters to go and in the lead of the pack of four runners, Heather’s feet got tangled up with those of a Penn State runner, and she fell in a heap on the track.
By the time she scrambled to her feet, she trailed the lead pack by about 30 meters with less than 200 meters to go.
At first, Heather just vowed to finish the race. Then she was bolstered by the enthusiasm of the hometown fans, who saw her making her move. “It got so loud, and then I heard the announcer saying, ‘And watch out for Heather Dorniden!’ I was like, ‘I’m actually still in the race. Sweet.’”
She exploded past Fawn Dorr, the Penn State runner, at the start of the last turn. On the final straightaway she left an Indiana runner in her wake and at the tape she nudged past teammate Jamie Dittmar. “That last 50 meters, I hit a gear that I never knew I had,” Heather said.
“It’s probably one of my greatest running memories of all time. It’s something that is completely unexplainable to me besides through a higher power. I feel like the Lord just filled me up and gave me the opportunity to show what amazing things can happen through Him.”
Everyone takes a spill in life, but pursue the Lord with all of your heart. Today in prayer, spend some extra time reading your Bible and in prayer, desiring to be more like Jesus.
“In the Christian race all may run so as to obtain. There is the greatest encouragement, therefore, to persevere with all our strength, in this course.” – Matthew Henry
God’s Word: “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.” – Hebrews 12:1
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2012, Devotional E-Mail
DEVOTIONS IN 1 CORINTHIANS