A lot of Christians give their lives to Christ and they ask God for help. The thing that many don’t understand is that when you ask God to help you, he does. He prepares you and puts you on the starting line. God doesn’t leave you where he found you. When you decide to follow Jesus, you are beginning your race. Your race is different from everyone else around you. Don’t look at another person’s race – you have your own race to run and God has a specific plan for your life. Don’t try to compare your pace to others. Don’t be distracted by how others around you are running their race. What God is asking you to do concerning a certain area (any area in which you want to move forward in God) is not what God has your neighbor doing. Your race is unique.

Sometimes, you are going to set a goal and you are going to fall short. You are going to miss the mark. Sometimes, you will fail in an area of your life that you really wanted to succeed in. Sometimes, you will do everything you possibly can and still fail. Some conditions are just out of your control. Things happen that you can’t predict or anticipate. You have to know that you gave it everything, and you have to be willing to learn from when you fall short. Do everything you can to learn from your experience. Sometimes it’s not about hitting the goal. It’s about doing your best and doing everything you can – in your relationships, in your work, in every area of your life. That’s the spirit that keeps you from giving up on areas of your world that are important. Many people chose to blame circumstances or others and give up on important things too quickly. We are never going to finish any race unless we decide that we are going to take personal responsibility over areas in our lives, learn from our mistakes and shortcomings, and apply what we’ve learned so that we can advance further in the next round. I may never reach perfection in a certain area of my life, but I will apply the knowledge I have gained so that I can go further, do better and get closer to the mark.

Our goals are different than those of the world around us. Our values are different – our morality, representing Christ, connecting with other. Our goal is to do what Jesus would do. It’s hard, but it’s a great goal. What do you do when you’ve tried everything? The Bible says that the grace of God is sufficient for you. If there is a gap in an area of your life between where you are and where you want to be, and you’ve done everything you possibly could, the grace of God is sufficient.

It’s not about whether or not you run the 50 mile or the 100 mile race. Jesus is the author and perfector, the beginning and the end of our “faith” race. I stand and look forward and, as my eyes are fixed on Him at the end of my race, it doesn’t matter if I fall short if I have done everything possible to reach my goal. No one else can judge you. God expects different things of you than he expects of someone else. Focus on your own race. Judge not lest you be judged. Keep your eye on your prize – Jesus. Learn from your mistakes. Build on your experience. Don’t make the same mistakes over and over because they will always yield the same result. Do better each round and get closer to the goal.

In God, it’s ok if you miss the mark. God’s standard is different. When it comes to things that are important in our lives, God’s standard is “did I do everything I could?”. At the end of the race, you will stand before God, and He will say “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Did I do everything perfectly? No. Did I miss the mark sometimes? Yes. But that is why God gave us grace. That is why he helps us through. My prize isn’t winning the race. My prize is getting before Jesus and hearing those words – “Well done.” That’s the most important thing we can ever hear. Our race is serving God and living as a servant, doing everything we can to serve God, cherishing God and knowing that everything in our life is a gift from him.