The Special Race We Are In....

Today's post is an excerpt from the book I am reading - "The Answer is Prayer" by Morris L. Venden. Lately I have had a lot of questions about prayer so this has been the perfect book for me to read. I am making my way through it slowly...digesting it slowly.
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"My friend Jay Davis sent me and excerpt from a graduation talk he gave which I have prized and which I would like to share:

There is great interest and excitement these days created by the Olympic games. There is also growing support for a movement called the Special Olympics, a program that gives those specially challenged- the handicapped- a chance to strive, a chance to feel the thrill of putting their best on the line. They are invited to run, all out, to a friend or family member who calls encouragement from the finish line. No matter if the performance is awkward or clumsy. Everyone who finishes is a winner and is given a prize and hugs and glory.

Every time I witness one of these contest, I choke up because, you see, I am handicapped. I have a birth defect. I am a born sinner. And waiting at the finish line of this special race I'm in, reaching out to me and calling to me, is my beloved Father, who loves me- why, I don't understand. I'm slow and clumsy and awkward. My limbs won't work the way I want them to. Sometimes I look away from Him and stumble. I get off course and fall down, embarrassed and ashamed. But I have an Elder Brother beside me who helps me when I fall, who holds me up, and who even carries me.

Now, throughout this race, there is a heckler who delights in browbeating me. He keeps telling me there's no use to keep coming to my Father. He says that my Father at the finish line is disgusted with my performance, that I'm just making a spectacle of myself for nothing. However, when I look in the face of my loving Father, He is always there, reaching out to me.

"But I've shamed You," I cry.

He calls back, "Get up. Just keep coming."

And I am beginning to realize that the others in this special race- all with birth defects - are not my competitors at all. They are running to their Father, just as I am, struggling to finish, because everyone who keeps coming until the end of the race is a winner.

The longer this race continues, the more my attention span lengthens. Distractions grow weaker, and I can see His face more clearly. He does want me to get there~ This is becoming a glorious race, as He keeps reaching out to me, encouraging me to keep coming to Him, even when I falter.

The day is not far off when each one of us can stumble in our awkwardness across the finish line and lurch into His waiting arms. He'll gather you in, and clasp you in His arms, and you''ll know you're a winner- because He kept calling you, and you kept coming to Him. He's there, waiting for you, because He loves you. He really loves you."