Each March more than sixty teams begin the “Last Great Race”. They’ve trained all year to run over ice and snow, cross frozen rivers and open sea, face dangerous mountains and deadly storms, until they’ve gone almost 1200 miles. Each team has one unique member…a human…and sixteen incredible dogs. This is the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. It’s an amazing competition.
But why would a guy in warm Georgia get so caught up in a race way up in Alaska? We don’t have mushers, sled dogs, or hardly any snow. It’s because with every turn in the Trail, with every musher’s story, at every checkpoint, I hear God speaking, using something there to teach me something here.
The landscape is awesome. Beautiful white snow covers almost everything, giving it a look of purity. The mountains are huge and majestic. The sunsets and sunrises are spectacular. And the Northern Lights dance across a night sky filled with stars. No sane person could truly believe this is all by accident.
Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)
From the age of 18 to 68, mushers come from different backgrounds and countries. Some are well off, others struggle. Most have good health, a few are recovering from cancer, at least one has diabetes and one is legally blind. Only one will finish first, but all work hard to get to the starting line and compete.
Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9:24b-25)
From Anchorage to Nome, beginning to end, crowds cheer on the teams. While the mushers are polite, wave and even take time to sign a few autographs, their focus remains on the prize.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
Each is compelled, as the Apostle Paul said of his own race, not knowing what will happen to me but that hardships are facing me. (Acts 20:22,23) Some will lose their way, all will question themselves. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the One who calls you. (Galatians 5:7-8) Yet they will continue on.
Not all will make it to the end. Some withdraw because of injury or fatigue, some out of concern for their dogs. Still, those around them continue to lift their spirits, encouraging them toward the next start. Let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:22)
But what I like best about the Iditarod is that it isn’t over with the first to cross that line. Picture this. It’s 8:30 a.m., -15 F (-26 C), in Nome, Alaska. The winner arrived 3 days ago! But here come two mushers, a man and a woman, numbers 39 and 40 to make it. And even in the bitter cold of this morning, people have gathered to welcome them. The mushers have won the prize, because they finished the race!
I think Heaven will be like that, though hopefully not as cold. After all our struggles, pain and hardships, all the times we’ve questioned ourselves and wondered if it’s really worth it…we will have been encouraged along the Way, we will make it to the end, we will finish the race…and those who have finished before us will be waiting with the Host of this Last Great Race to welcome us home.
We each have our own race and it’s a race worth running. May we all be able to say…
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:6-8) Take care and be God’s,
Chuck Graham
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