The newspaper headline read, "Jockey Beats Horse Over Finish Line." The jockey beat the pack by 20 lengths and his horse by one length when he was catapulted out of the saddle and over the finish line. His horse, who had tripped, followed soon after. But the victory went to the second-place finisher named Slip Up. A race official said that the jockey "was so far in front that only a freak accident would stop him, . . . and that's what happened."

We've all experienced life's unexpected happenings. The author of Ecclesiastes took note of them when he said, "The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong" (9:11). He reflected on the fact that man is not the master of his destiny, as he so often thinks he is.

Life is filled with unpredictable experiences and events. They seem like stones dropped into the gears of human ingenuity. A strong, healthy man drops dead. A rising young athlete contracts a crippling disease. A person of means suddenly loses everything in a bad deal.

What can we learn from this? Not to trust our own strength, our own wisdom, or our own skill, but to depend on the Lord who alone knows the end from the beginning.

Life's race is not over till He says it's over.  — Mart De Haan