by Asha King
In a race everyone's main goal is to come in first place, which makes them the winner; all the rest would be considered losers. The person that came in last place may look at themselves as a winner, though, because even though they came last they persevered until the end. In God's race, the race is not given to the swift or strong but the one who endureth till the end. You can walk, skip, run, jog or even crawl as long as you keep going. In a race everyone is moving towards the finish line. In God’s race, His people are moving closer to Him and that is our finish line.
During the race things may get tough. You may feel like you're not in shape for this, or you're too tired, but never give up! In a race, why train and prepare for so long just to give up? In God’s race why obey Him and praise Him just to give up? In either type of race, you never turn back because it may look dark and stormy for a time, but there's always a prize at the end. Whether it be a trophy, a medal or a certificate. In God’s race it may be a blessing or even entering His kingdom.
For me, my race wasn't always easy. For example in high school, the people I was surrounded by weren’t always running the same race as I was. What I'm trying to say is that, you may encounter people that don't go to church, don't believe that prayer works, or even believe in a different God than you do – but that doesn't mean that we join their race. What we're supposed to do is tell people how good our race is, so that they join our race and walk, run, skip or crawl on our journey to God with us.
Again, my race wasn't always easy. At one point I was just starting off the race. There were times I didn't want to go to church or praise God, but when I continued to walk my race I realize the importance of going to church and praising God. That walking turned into jogging and then running. I saw myself grow in my race and the joy that goes through your body when you realize you're doing God’s work is unspeakable. I may get tired, but I will never ever ever sit down!