An Unlikely Winner

USGN Article - March 2002

Terry & Barbi Franklin

Written by Terry Franklin

           Our boys are now officially teenagers and there is one clear item of interest in their lives: cars. Every souped-up Honda Civic on the street, every Mustang, Corvette, Lexus Roadster, you name it, it gets their attention and I'll hear the latest phrase in the vernacular of folks their age, "That is SO sweet!…."

On a recent trip to Florida, Grandpa Franklin took us to a Sports Car Club Of America Road Rally. The drivers drove their "racing" vehicles to the event, most being fairly standard Hondas, Nissans, Corvettes, etc. with a few minor modifications. The point of the event was to make your way around a circuitous course of orange pylons set up in a large parking lot. The very best completed this course in 37-40 seconds.

We watched as young hotshots burned rubber around tight chicanes and twisting hairpin corners trying to finish the course in the least amount of time. Some came in vintage Jaguars and there were even some racing shifter-go-karts.

Just about the time we had heard enough of the wail from the exhaust of the various rice-rockets on the course, and our ears had been deafened by that classic sound of an American V8 turning at around 7000 rpm, an unlikely racer pulled up to the starting grid. A middle-aged man pulled up in a whisper-quiet Lincoln Continental (think: the ultimate in retirement village transportation). The public-address announcer chuckled. The driver even left the air-conditioner on!

But no one was laughing after he started his run. He whipped through the course in 35 seconds!

He did this because of two things: 1) He knew his car. 2) He knew how to drive it.

These are days when we need to know God's Word, and know how to use it. It's not enough for us to rely on what others know. The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

The winners in life will not necessarily be the most flashy, but those who know God through His word, and know how to stand on the promises of God. Those who do will make it no matter what twists and turns they encounter in the highway of life.

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