Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Inner Strength (04/20/06)
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TITLE: The Race | Previous Challenge Entry
By Nicole Byerly
04/25/06 -
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The party was last night. But it was unlike any party she had ever been to before. In fact, it was more like a study group.
And it had changed her life.
Now, all that seemed so far behind her…as she struggled in intense pain. Though so many of her friends’ words were clear in her head. She had never fallen so hard before this. She had been running in full stride until…the world around her had gone topsy-turvy and she had lost her bearings. Something snapped in her right leg and the blinding pain nearly paralyzed her. Still, she pressed on. She wore a sweatband, and yet, the sweat trickled down.
Down.
Some into her mouth.
Salty.
She wondered what sweat-drops of blood must have been like.
And her anguish in those moments, on that track, as she strived to finish the race, were nothing compared to her Savior’s as He made His way down that dusty road. Closer and closer toward the place where He would breathe His last breath.
She had been running for years. In fact, soon after she learned to walk, she began to run. And she had suffered many injuries. Twisted ankles, sprains. Nothing too serious. This however…this was very serious. Something was most definitely broken, much like Jesus’ body was broken, she reminded herself, and she set her sights on the finish line. All around her, she could see medical personnel. She saw her mother, crying on the sidelines. She was “running” the race alongside her only daughter. A quick peek at her right knee and she could see the edge of a bone. She could also see blood on both of her hands.
The sight, and perhaps the loss of blood, caused her to get nauseous. Yet again, she set her sites on the finish line. The race was over. Everyone else had come in long ago. The winner had already been pronounced. And yet, the crowd waited in expectant anticipation for the young lady with the broken leg. The girl who wouldn’t quit. But what they didn’t know was that she wouldn’t quit because her Savior wouldn’t quit. He went all the way to Calvary for her. And she could never forget that. She finished the race that day, dragging that broken leg, falling, exhausted, into her mother’s embrace. And they hugged as tears stung their eyes. The broken girl knew that although she had lost, she had really won. She had finished the race. And she had done it with her sights set on her Lord.
Immediately, the paramedics rushed over and took control, the break was indeed very bad. They needed to get their patient to the hospital. The young girl held her mother’s hand in the ambulance the entire way there. But she also prayed, thanking Jesus for helping her to finish the race. She never once cursed Him for her the great amount of pain that she was in. In fact, she gladly embraced her cross. And she was ever so grateful that Jesus gladly embraced His.
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