Earlier this month, Jessica McClain was well on her way to winning the United States Half Marathon title and earning the right to represent her country at the World Championships. However, with less than three kilometres to go, Jessica took a wrong turn. The police officer assigned to direct competitors to a footbridge left his post to help with a serious incident nearby. Jessica and a handful of other runners missed the turn and ran more than a kilometre off course. By the time they turned around, it was too late. Jessica finished in ninth place. As you can imagine, this incident has sparked a series of protests and created a lot of confusion about what to do next.
To be clear, Jessica’s effort was not the issue. She trained hard, ate properly, qualified for the race and showed up on the appointed day. Jessica McClain was, by far, the fastest runner in the field. She just ran the wrong way.
That story reminds me of various people I have known over the years. For example, one young man was so concerned about providing for his family that he worked constantly. He put in twelve-hour days, worked weekends, said “yes” to every overtime shift, and never took a vacation. After many years, he had a full bank account and an empty home. One could not fault his effort. He ran really hard. However, the path he took led him away from the family he was trying to support. He was off-course for so long that he could not find his way back.
Sometimes, our effort is good, but the outcome is not. It is not uncommon to discover that our lives were aimed at something that we did not really care about in the first place. Too many times, I have heard people say, “If I could go back, I would do things differently”.
Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living”.
Maybe today is a good time to ask yourself whether you are still on course and make some corrections if necessary.
Waiting until the end is too late.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
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