God Behind the Scenes
God’s name is not mentioned in the book of Esther in the
Bible, but His divine providence is easy to follow. God was behind the scenes maneuvering
circumstances that led to Israel’s victory.
When I hear the story about a racehorse named Secretariat, I see something remarkably similar… God clearly present behind the scenes. We don’t serve a God that sees normal. We serve a great God, and His greatness abides in us, as it is written, “He who is in you, is greater than he who is in the world.”
The Making of Greatness
When Secretariat was born, he stood on his feet at 45 minutes old. The trainer said he had never seen a foal stand up that fast. Ideally, a foal should be up and nursing within two hours of birth. Even at his arrival, Secretariat was special.
At the age of two, Secretariat had won seven of his nine races and was named Horse of the Year, only the second two-year-old thoroughbred to ever capture that honor. At the age of three, he won the Triple Crown and was again named Horse of the Year.
The Triple Crown is a championship title awarded to the horse that wins three races in a single season. Only 13 horses in the history of the Triple Crown has ever achieved this victory, and Secretariat was one of them, with the record of the fastest horse to ever win it. Not only did Secretariat clock the best cumulative time for his Triple Crown victory, but he also holds the record time for each of those three races individually.
The Race Before Him
The three races of the Triple Crown include the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. The Belmont Stakes would be his hardest race because of its length, and there was some concern whether he had the stamina to run that distance. In addition to that, Secretariat had an abscess and had not been eating, and in training, his times had slowed down considerably.
On the morning of the Belmont Stakes, his groomer, Eddie Sweat came to the stall and saw that Secretariat had eaten all the grain in one bucket, and tore into the second bucket Eddie brought. On his way to the starting gate, he kept stomping the ground and rearing up like he was pumped to run.
Ordinarily, he would start the race dead last out of the gate then blow past all the other horses to come in first. He must have felt a sense of accomplishment when he ran, because that day the jockey did not have to use the whip, he just rode, and Secretariat ran that race like a tremendous machine. His trainer, Lucien Lauren said, “In all my years of training, I’ve never seen a horse that loves to run like this one does.” God put racing in his heart, and it showed. What's in your heart?
Impossible to Catch
Secretariat dictated his own come from behind racing strategy, and it worked. In the Belmont Stakes though, Secretariat did not start dead last, that day he stuck with the leaders and was never in the rear. On the back stretch he began to pull way out in front and every sprint forward drove him further and further into the lead.
Since Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973, his winning time in the Belmont Stakes has never been approached. This was the race they said he didn’t have the stamina to win, and yet he still holds the record to this day.
God's Greatness at Work in Us
Sports journalist, Jerry Izenberg said, “You can’t anticipate greatness. I suppose you can’t really define it. It’s something that God, occasionally, sticks inside someone. And because it comes from God, the gift can’t be ignored, nor can it be defeated, and great athletes become greater even if they’re not human.”
If God can pull this off in a horse, just imagine the great things He can do in you and me. Come on, let's believe for greater things, by believing in God who does great things. Let us run with passion and endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus who is the author and the finisher of our race, to receive the crown of glory prepared for us.