Finish Well
On a cold October night in 1968 during the Olympics in Mexico City, a stadium full of spectators waited to see the remainder of the men's marathon finishers. It had been almost an hour since the winner had crossed the finish line. It appeared that all of the runners had finished so spectators began to get up to leave. Suddenly one final runner made his way into the stadium! The spectators cheered as the final runner made his way toward the finish line.The man running into the stadium to finish in last place was John Stephen Akhwari from Tanzania. His leg was bandaged up and he was clearly limping his way to the finish line. During the race, John fell to the ground gashing his knee and also causing a dislocation. The crowd cheered as John passed the finish line!If John's average mile time would have been just a few minutes slower, there potentially would have been no one left in the stadium to see him pass the finish line. He knew that there may not had been anyone there when he passed the finish line. He also new that it would have been understandable for him to drop out of the race before ever reaching the potentially empty stadium. In fact, 18 other racers did not finish and it was not due to injuries. However, John continued the race until he passed the finish line!When John was asked why he had carried on and finished the race, his response has gone down in sporting history...
“My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race, they sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race."
John was able to see beyond the pain of the moment and he kept his eyes on the bigger picture of why he was there. This is an amazing picture of the race that God has called each of us to run. God is looking for us to be people that are going to finish well. God never said "I need you to finish first!" He has asked us to remain faithful in the tasks that He has called us to with the abilities that He has given us.You may be at a point in your life where you feel stuck or in too much pain to continue. Let the story of John finishing the race encourage you to press on and continue what God has called you to do! We need to do our best to look past the pain of the moment and see the bigger picture that God has called us to. How you finish is more important to God than how you begin. Let's be people that finish well before God in this life that He has called us to live.2 Timothy 4:7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.