Who stepped in on you?

In the 1984 Olympics, American champion Mary Decker competed with the darling of South Africa, a runner by the name of Zola Budd in a 3000 meter race.  As the runners were nearing the finish line, Zola Budd attempted to pass the other runners on the outside and stepped in on Mary Decker, causing her to stumble.  Mary Decker attempted to regain her balance, but another contact sent her sprawling to the ground.

This is the image I always picture when I read Paul’s comments to the Galatian church, “You were running a good race.  Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth (Gal. 5:7)?”  The question Paul was asking was addressed to a church that was being misled into following laws from which Christ had set them free.  Paul wanted them to remember that they had been saved by grace in spite of what others were trying to get them to believe.  As a result of their listening to these others, they were actually falling away from grace and missing out on the blessings available to them in Christ Jesus.

Many of us are like that.  We believe we have to submit to a particular lifestyle, practice certain habits, or give up certain things, in order to please God.  This may result in our resenting the intrusiveness of the Lord in our lives, feeling as though we are restricted by what He expects of us.   In Psalm 118:5, the writer states, “In my anguish, I cried to the Lord, and He answered me by setting me free.”  Zorn, in interpreting this passage, believes the writer is saying that God takes him from a place of distress, a “narrow place” to a “broad, wide-open place,” a place where he is freer to move around.  In other words, rather than keeping us from enjoying ourselves as we often think, the Lord wants to give us even more options and better ones.  As David writes, God wants to give you the “desires of your heart (Ps. 37:4).”

As we run our race, we need to be on watch for those who would mislead us into believing something other than the truth.  Paul wrote, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit (v. 25).”  In order to experience God’s blessings on our family, our work, our personal lives, we need to continually be developing our ability to discern what the Lord would have us to do.  We can only know the truth through reading the Scripture, and continually being in prayer about these things.  But, as we discover the truth and are able to discern what the Lord has in mind, we will begin to experience the joy that comes from the abundant life that He wants for each one of us.

Godspeed