Chaplains Corner: We need help to run the race of life

Hasn’t it been inspiring to see the dedication of the competitors at the Olympics this week?

Running is one of the most popular Olympic sports and winning the race can be seen as a metaphor for life.

I am reminded of a Bible passage that says, we are to ‘run in such a way as to get the prize’.

Do you have a prize you are aiming for in life? I know an elderly man who looks back with regret on life and I tell him it doesn’t have to be that way. God can transform the way we see our past and see Jesus as our goal and hope for the future.

If you think you’re failing in the race of life, perhaps because you’re not as strong as you want to be or regret past decisions. Remember you’ve a Heavenly Father who has a plan for your life to lift your burdens. Jesus once said, ‘come to me all who are weary and heavy laden... and you will find rest for your souls’.

Weakness can become strength in God. Christian singer song writer Eilidh Patterson sings about this. I saw her performing last week on holiday. She played a song called ‘Broken’ and explained why she wrote it during a difficult period in her life.

She said: “I realised that I’d been beating myself up for three years and one day I thought maybe it’s okay to be broken. What I realised is that life is not all about me."

This epiphany was the start of her healing. She began to see that we do not have to race alone, we can be part of a team. Jesus and us but also other believers who can help and support us.

Can we follow the example of Peter and John, Jesus’ followers, who when they heard Jesus body was missing raced each other to the tomb, so desperate were they to find Jesus. Jesus alive is better than any gold medal.

It’s when we are humble and weak and cry out to God that he will respond. God turns away from those who are proud and self-reliant. Why should he help us when we are like that?

The Bible shows the great plan of God, from beginning to end, God rescuing those who ask for his help. Those who do not want to race alone. Those who recognise that they want to run the race of life with God as the coach, the rescuer and the friend who never fails you.

Jesus, God in human form, exchanged his life as a ransom for yours by dying on the cross. Go for gold in life- the prize that is eternal!