I messed up… again.
I didn’t even want to get back up.
I didn’t feel like I could.
But then I remembered a poem I had tucked in a book almost thirty years ago. I pulled it out. Read it. And got back up…again.
The Race
By D. H. Groberg
A children’s race–young boys, young men–
How I remember well.
Excitement, sure! but also fear;
It wasn’t hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope;
Each thought to win the race.
Or tie for first, or if not that,
At least take second place.
And Fathers watched from off the side
Each cherring for his son.
O and each boy hoped to show his dad
That he would be the one.
The whistle blew and off they ran
Young hearts and hopes afire.
To win and be the hero there
Was each young boy’s desire.
And one boy in particular,
Whose dad was in the crowd,
Was running near the lead and thought:
“My dad will be so proud!”
But as they speeded down the field
Across a shallow dip,
The little boy who thought to win
Lost his step and slipped.
Trying hard to catch himself,
His hands flew out to brace,
And mid the laughter of the crowd
He fell flat on his face.
So down he fell and with him hope
–He couldn’t win it now–
Embarrassed, sad, he only wished
To disappear somehow.
But as he fell his dad stood up
And showed his anxious face,
Which to the boy so clearly said:
“Get up and win the race.”
He quickly rose, no damage done.
–Behind a bit, that’s all–
And he ran with all his mind and might
To make up for his fall.
So anxious to restore himself
–To catch up and to win–
His mind went faster than his legs:
He slipped and fell again!
He wished then he had quit before
With only one disgrace.
“I’m hopeless as a runner now;
I shouldn’t try to race.”
But in the laughing crowd he searched
And found his father’s face;
That steady look which said again:
“Get up and win the race!”
So up he jumped to try again
–Ten yards behind the last.
“If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought
“I’ve got to move real fast.”
Exerting everything he had
He regained eight or ten,
But trying so hard to catch the lead
He slipped and fell again!
Defeat! He lay there silently
–A tear dropped from his eye–
“There’s no sense running any more;
Three strikes. I’m out! Why try?”
The will to rise had disappeared;
All hope had fled away;
So far behind, so error prone;
A loser all the way.
“I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought.
“I’ll live with my disgrace.”
But then he thought about his dad,
Who soon he’d have to face.
“Get up,” an echo sounded low.
“Get up and take your place;
You were not meant to failure here.
Get up and win the race.”
“With borrowed will get up,” it said.
“You haven’t lost at all.
For winning is no more than this:
To rise each time you fall.”
So up he rose to run once more,
And with a new commit
He resolved that win or lose,
At least he wouldn’t quit.
So far behind the others now,
–The most he’d ever been–
Still he gave it all he had
And ran as though to win.
Three times he’d fallen, stumbling;
Three times he rose again;
Too far behind to hope to win,
He still ran to the end.
They cheered the winning runner
As he crossed the line first place.
Head high, and proud, and happy;
No falling, no disgrace.
But when the fallen youngster
Crossed the line last place,
The crowd gave him the greater cheer
For finishing the race.
And even though he came in last
With head bowed low, unproud,
You would have thought he’d won the race
To listen to the crowd.
And to his dad he sadly said,
“I didn’t do so well.”
“To me, you won,” his father said.
“You rose each time you fell.”
Today, no matter what you’re going through, no matter how badly you have messed up, I want you to know that Your Heavenly Father is standing in the crowd, willing you to rise.
Now, if this one was for you, leave me a comment that says, “I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!”
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Comments 89
“Sharon,
I am not a “”cryer”” so to speak….but there were most definately tears after reading this poem. It felt lke it was written specifically for me. I am having a massive internal battle and oh my…so many stumbles I can’t count. I truly believed that my failings were punishment for what I have done. Thank you so much for a beautful, different perspective.
Peace,
Amy”
Thank you. That was so moving.
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race.
Thank you for that encouragement and reminder!- So much keeps on happening at once with only weeks to go with my pregnancy the devil keeps on trying to pile on things that should never be their. So again I say thank for that reminder.”
Thank you for the reminder that our Father doesn’t expect us to always Win, but that we at least get back up and try again for Him. I’m getting up again!
This was extremely motivational. I’m racing my first marathon in Sunday in Columbus Ohio. And although I don’t feel it will be the race I had once hoped for (overcome an injury sustained 5 weeks ago), i know this will motivate me to finish without defeat! Thank you!!
Sharon, thank you so much for this story. I have messed up so much but I get up and keep going. I have MS and I have had it for 21 years and I’m still going. This is all by the grace and mercy of God!!!
“Sharon, this reminder was timely. This past Sunday I laid to rest my best friend who died without knowing the Lord. I am in deep sorrow because I feel I failed him.
And so with renewed purpose, i am determined not to loose any more of my friends without a fight. And so “I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!—
Thank you for reminding me of the love of our Father!! I may get discouraged but I’m not giving uo.
“””I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!â€
Thank you Sharon for the uplifting and motivational story. It was right on time for me.”
“Thank you Lord for your grace and mercy. For you cheers to rise and stay in the race. Satan tries to keep the lies of defeat in our hearts, but I hear my Father calling me to rise. Thank you for that this morning Sharon I needed it after yesterday.
God Bless”
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
“Sharon, thank you so much for this today. I have been struggling a lot lately and haven’t been able to figure out why. After reading this I think I have been struggling because I am tired of starting over. After reading this post I realize that I am not starting over; I am just stumbling through some rough spots. I need to continue picking myself up and keep going. I do not ask for God’s help enough; instead I retreat inside myself.
I feel as though I have had an epiphany; my load is lighter. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
I will not quit. I will get up and continue the race for as many times as necessary!
I heard that poem before…and appreciate the reminder! Like so many others, I needed it now.
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
I can see myself as the parent that cannot give up on my child and as the child who will not give up as my Father watches over me as I parent. I have fallen so may times…thank you for the thought provoking words :)”
God is so good! I needed this encouragement so badly today and He knew that. I am an overeater. I know I have a problem and it will take God’s help to overcome it. I pray for victory over this sin in my life, and yet I am human and fall at times. Yesterday was a bad day. I went to sleep feeling defeated and guilt ridden. I thank God for His grace and for knowing how to encourage me to continue the race. Please pray for me that I will get up each time I fall and will look to the Father for fulfillment and not food.
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!â€
Sharon, this was right on time.
Thank you!
Lakeeia”
Thank you…I’m getting up!
I will not quit (even though my computer is acting up and preventing me from completing my graded assignment) in disgrace(this semester is mine in Jesus’ name). I will get up and continue the race by the grace of God!! Thank you Sharon.
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
Thanks for the timely poem! I have been struggling with fear and doubt recently. It’s not that I don’t believe God can, but will He come through for me? Is He willing? I trip and fall, and am determined that with His strength I can trust Him again, not my own. Then I doubt that since my faith seems to waver, He will not answer favorably. Then fear tries to rear it’s ugly head again. But, I keep getting up and hope to see God move that mountain for me once again.
“””Oh Father, help me win this race then I will see you face to face!””
Thank you Sharon for your words that always encourage others to run the race!”
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
I will not quit even if all odds are against me. I will rise each time I fall and I will continue until I come to the finishing line.
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
“I will notquit the race! I will get up and finish the race!!!
Thank you Sharon for the insight! Been fighting feeling like a loser and an embarrassment to my family.”
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
I needed that this morning. I slip and fall but I will keep running this race of life because at the end of this life when I meet my Heavenly Father I want him to say, well done my weary childe, come on home!
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race! no matter what, my God is on my side.
Sharon, this poem was a favorite of my former Mary Kay National Sales Director Rena Tarbet. Rena just went to be with The Lord after over 30 years of an off-and-on (mostly on) battle with cancer. She had the best attitude and trusted The Lord every step of the way. May her numbers increase.
Brought me to tears….Thank you! “I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!†🙂
“Just used a similiar statement this past weekend to my 10 yr. old granddaughter; who thought because she was off sides and they lost their soccer game; it was her fault.
As I stated she played with her whole heart and that’s what counts in life.”
I will not quit in disgrace I will get up and finish the race
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!â€
““I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!””
Thank you so much for this, it has really impacted me in a very special way… I needed this. Blessings to you all.”
So very Timely
I will not quit in disgrace! I will rise up each time until I finish the race
I’m in a deep mess right now and I even ask God to just take my life away cause I’m just a disgrace, I just can’t do anything right,making bad decisions all the time. I asked for another chance and blew it most of the time. I don’t know how will I survive this week with all the mess I made. But I remind myself that even if my faith is as small as a mustard seed right now “I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!â€
Thank you Sharon for today’s message it’s what i need… God bless you!
“Yes, UP again…I will not quit in disgrace….I will get up and finish this race!
Thanks for the poem….just what I needed to hear today.”
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
Sharon, I love what you said to one person, ” “Today is a new day with no mistakes in it.†thank you for this devotional…I keep getting up but I wonder why……to finish the race, that is why….I pray for you that you may continue to impact so many lives…..
Sharon, thank you for sharing this today. It is just what I needed to be reminded of. That in spite of our human failings, Our Father is alwYs our biggest cheerleader. As I face the many challenges in my own life, I will not quit. To God be the glory.
I will not quit in disgrace I will get up and win the race.
“Sharon,
I have been reading your blogs for years now and I always loved having the opportunity to pray with you at the end…what happened to the ending prayers? :(“
“Wow, Sharon, thank you! Another well-timed devotional God’s timing is perfect timing. I will not quit ( sometimes I do it too easily) but get up and finish the race! Like St. Paul tells us…
Sometime, check on a poem by Helen Malicoat entitled “”I AM”” but your devotional today was also a good reminder.
God bless you.”
“I will not quit in disgrace! I will get up and win the race.
Abba sure must know I need to hear this because of late I have been really down on myself and feeling like I’m failing miserably. I really need this encouragement. Thank you Sharon. and thank you Abba.”
I’ll not quit in disgrace, I’ll get up and finish the race.
May god bless you , I was about to give up .this is for me,I cry when I read this oh this is for me,Thank you Jesus for sending this word my way.
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!†I have fallen too many times to count, but keep getting up – sometimes slower than the last – but I am still getting up!
This is exactly what I needed to hear today. Just in the past six months I have been through so much. I’m in the middle of a divorce, started a new career, my mother disowned me, and my car broke down. I have lived in 4 diffferent places in the meantime. A man came into my life that I’m sure is my soulmate and his parents took me in while he works 5 hours away because I had no place else to go. They are so good to me I feel like they are my parents. They even helped me get my first car from a dealership. I was so excited to have my very first nice car. Life was finally looking up for me. I had a good career, a man that loves me more than anything, his family had pretty much become my family, amd my first nice car. I was on top of the world then I wrecked my car a month after I bought it. It’s in the shop right now and they say it might be totaled. I feel like giving up. I’m afraid to drive again. I don’t want to work anymore because I don’t want to depend on anyone else to get there and I don’t want to drive. I’m just not sure where to go from here but I’m going to trust God. If He can raise people from the dead He can surely fix my car and give me the courage to get back on my feet.
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
“A perfect word for the challenges I face. A perfect God who loves us so much that He sends out messages of encouragement &hope.
I’ll not quit in disgrace but I will finish the race.
Thank You!”
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
“I will not quit in disgrace, I will get up and finish the race…
Thank you and thank you Jesus”
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and finish the race
That is exactly what I needed to hear today ! Thank God !”
“I HAVE FALL A THOUSAND TIMS, BUT I DECIDE TO CONTINUE TO GET UP, NO MATTER WHAT THE STORMS OF LIFE WILL BRING ME, AM NOT QUITTING, CAUSE GREATER IS HE THAT LIVE IN ME THAT HE THAT LIVE IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD, FOR I KNOW THAT SEEKING MY LORD, HE WILL PICK UP AND HELP ME WIN THE RACE….
THANK YOU, SISTER SHARON FOR YOUR INSPIRATION WORDS, GOD BLESS YOU!!”
I will get up and finish the race, I will not quit in disgrace.
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
i will not quit in disgrace, i will get up and continue the race. i must win in Jesus Name.
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!†I needed this.Thank You
I will not quit in disgrace. I will continue this race and not give up.
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and finish the race! Thank you for the perfect timing of this poem.
This came at the right time, I have fallen so many times, I have been wanting to quit the race, When I see everything that is going on in my life, I decide to leave the race and then get back up, this story has touched me and showed me to continue the race to the end. I will make it ,struggling but will get there.
Praise God for all He does to make us what He has planned for us to be. I look back and I’m so glad I am not the way I use to be and thankful that I am who I am in Him and look ahead to the promise of who I’m gonna be in His image. Oh glorious day! Each day IS sweeter than the day before. Thank you for being available to share.
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
Thanks for the poem. I am sending this to my hubby right now!!! It’s perfect for us today.”
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!
I will not quit,I will run till the end,falling and going,falling and going I will.
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the
Race. I thank you lord God for giving me the strength to get up again.”
I will not quit in disgrace, but get up amd win the race!
Todays devotion touched me in my soul. At church yesterday the preacher said that God doesn’t see us when He looks at us. The preacher probably didn’t mean that statement the way I took it. Nevertheless, I pondered that all day. I started looking back over my life and remembering how special God has made me feel over the years and how I’ve felt like He planned certain situations for me to be in at the perfect time and place. So I know God see’s me and He can see me better than I see myself. He loves me and I am special to Him. Todays devotion confirms my thoughts. He breathed into the body His breathe of life. He operated on man to create woman. That makes us all special. Yes we are covered by the blood of Christ for our sins according to Sunday’s sermon. And we are also specially made by God for a specific purpose. Thank You God for seeing me. Thank you Sharon for todays devotion.
It is Finished!! I forgive myself!!
This is exactly what I needed today. Every part of me wants to stay down and hide. Praise God for His mercy and grace, that when we fall He is there to lift us up.
I will continue to run this race it is so Worth It !!!!! Many blessing to you & your ministry. This truly encouraged me Amen Amen!!!
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race! Amen!
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race!”
I will not quit in discrace, i will continue to win the race!
“I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue to run the race!” By Your grace LORD!…But, Lord, I just need plenty of it…Please in able me to get up…to run again…i have no more strength…please, I need your strength Lord…
“I will not quit in disgrace, I will get back up and finish the race.” What a beautiful poem! Thank you Sharon for sharing this. I pray that all those who are touched by that poem will receive the Lord’s encouragement and stength to get back up and finish the race. In Jesus name, Amen.
I will not quit in disgrace, I will get back up and finish the race. In jesus name amen thank you I needed that.
I will not quit the race, and I am so thankful to finally begin to understand that I have a Heavenly Father who does not expect perfection but just asks that I keep on going. Sharon, thank you for being faithful to God’s calling, and for sharing your blogs and devotions with us.
I will not quit in disgrace. I will get up and continue the race. I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father, who no matter how many times I fail him, loves me unconditionally, and lifts me up out of the past into the present!! Thank you Sharon, this is what I needed today!!
I choose not to quit in disgrace .I have fallen more times than I can remember and to be honest thoughts that says “what is the point “”you will never make it” “there is something wrong with you “always come up .Its not easy for me right now but nomatter what I am determined to finish the race. thank you Sharon
This is just beautiful for me. I have been struggling with an affair outside marriage and stopping it everyday. I have been so determined to live a good life but this gentleman keep on following me. I do not want to disclose this to my or his family or friends, but am so dissappointment he cannot stop it! I have put his nos. on reject list. Am trusting God for a breakup without causing any harm to our marriages. Please pray with me as I wake up again!
I will not quit in disgrace, I will stand up and finish the race.
This is for me, Lord knows how much I have fallen and how much I hurt from self-hatred.
In my life I have messed up over and over, usually with the same sin. But I know I am human and God will see me through if only I ask.