I’ve considered running a marathon once or twice. Not seriously, but I did mull it over in my little noggin. Then I decided to lie down for a while.

I can imagine me in a marathon. I’d do well for 3-4 miles, then I’d slow down to a fast walk. By the end, I’d be crawling and begging for death. My time wouldn’t be measured in hours and minutes. It would be measured in days, ’cause that’s how long it would take me to finish.

In the race of faith, all that matters is that you finish. Even if you come crawling over the finish line, you’re still a victor. The only ones who lose are the ones who don’t finish.

It’s never too late to get started. It’s never too late to start over. Even if you dropped out a long time ago and haven’t run in years, it’s still not too late to get back in the race.

Hebrews 12 talks about how a great host is cheering us on. Imagine all the great biblical heroes of the faith. All the saints down through the ages. All the people you’ve known who inspired you with their faith before they finished their own race. Every one of them is looking down on you, cheering you on, rooting for you.

Most of all, God himself is cheering for you and rooting for you. He wants you to finish, but more than that, he’s given you everything you need to finish well. All you have to do is keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep trusting with that mustard-sized faith that can move mountains.

The prize is not to the fastest or strongest or best-looking. The prize is for those who keep showing up and keep believing. It’s for those who fall down 1,000 times but get up 1,001 times. It’s for those whose race looks more like one of those maze games than a straight line.

It’s for you and for me if we just keep running.