Made for a Purpose

I’ve been blessed to attend many great events on my sports bucket list, Super Bowls, the NBA All Star Game, NCAA Final Four, and the Indy 500. But for some reason, I never made it to the Kentucky Derby, except via television.

So yesterday, I did the next best thing by visiting Churchill Downs, where the “Run for the Roses” is held every year.

When you walk into the famous racetrack, the first thing you see is an ominous, bronze statue of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, Barbaro. Barbaro had a decisive victory in the race, now almost a decade ago, winning by six-and-a-half lengths. Undefeated, he seemed a cinch to take the Triple Crown, but in the second leg of the prestigious goal, the Preakness Stakes, Barbaro took a horrifying spill after fracturing three bones in his right hind leg. Barbaro’s owners tried to save him, but a year later he had to be put down, and his final resting place is at Churchill Downs, underneath the statue of his likeness.

On his memorial plaque, it says, “I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”

That brought a tear to my eye, and I thought, We can all learn from Barbaro.

Just like this famous racehorse, God made us for a purpose. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

Are you doing what God created you to do, or are you still searching?

Sometimes our purpose on this earth is a short-term project. Jesus’ full-time ministry only spanned three years. Barbaro’s race career ended after three years, but in the short time he ran, he felt God’s pleasure. I have to believe that when Jesus served on this Earth, he also felt God’s pleasure.

If you are living in your God-given purpose, do you feel God is pleased with you? Or are you working without joy in a job you were never intended to do? Maybe you are volunteering, and it presents drudgery, not peace. Ask God if it is where you are supposed to run your race for him. If it’s not, change tracks.

Barbaro’s international glory only lasted one race, but it’s important to note he tasted the fruits of victory by pressing into his divine purpose. We can also “Run for the Roses” in our Christian lives when we are centered in God’s will, and running the race he has set before us.

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? 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. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).