Maybe you recall the story of Derek Redmond. He competed in the 1992 Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona. As the semifinal 400 began, Redmond raced ahead of all the others. But just 175 meters away from finishing, suddenly Derek felt a pop in his right hamstring and his speed slowed. He hopped on one leg, desperately trying to continue the race, but he finally fell to the track.
Then something amazing happened. Derek’s father, Jim, had been sitting up in the grandstands to watch his son run. When Derek fell, Jim ran down the steps of the stadium and pushed by two security guards to get out on the track. Jim reached his son, wrapped his arm around his waist, and said, “I’m here, son. We’ll finish together.”
The entire stadium cried and cheered as father and son completed the race.
This is a great picture of God’s relationship to us. Some people think that we’re alone in this life. They think that if God exists at all, he must be way up in the grandstands watching us from a distance. But there’s more to the picture. As we run our race, God the Father is indeed above us, but God the Son is beside us, and God the Spirit is within us. The triune God is intimately involved with our lives. Like Jim Redmond with his son, Derek, God runs with us, encouraging us and holding us up.
Drop into the Bible on almost any page and you’ll see this truth, but it shows up dramatically in the second half of John 14. In verses 15-31, Jesus told his apostles that when he left this earth he would ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be within us. The Holy Spirit is how we experience God in the present tense! We’ll study these verses together this Sunday at Hillcrest at 10am.
Trust God’s close presence with you as you run your race today!
--Tom
Tom Goodman serves as pastor at Hillcrest Church in Austin, Texas. His sermons are available on YouTube and the HillcrestToGo Podcast and you can find him on Facebook and Twitter. If someone forwarded this email newsletter to you, sign up here to receive Tom’s weekly devotional in your email inbox.