The Marathon Runner Who Stopped at Mile 25

In November 2019, amateur runner Sarah Sellers crossed the twenty-fifth mile of the New York City Marathon and simply stopped. She walked to the curb, sat down on the cold pavement, and wept. Not from injury — from emptiness. She had trained for eighteen months, sacrificed weekends, pushed through shin splints and predawn alarm clocks. She was so close to finishing. But her body and spirit had nothing left to give.

A volunteer named Marcus knelt beside her. He didn't give a motivational speech. He handed her a cup of water and half an orange. He sat with her in silence for nearly four minutes while thousands of runners streamed past. Then he said quietly, "Whenever you're ready."

Elijah had just called down fire from heaven. He had defeated 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. It was the spiritual victory of a lifetime. And then Jezebel sent a single threat, and this mighty prophet collapsed under a broom tree, begging God to let him die. He was spent — physically, emotionally, spiritually hollowed out.

But the Almighty did not scold him. God sent bread and water. He let Elijah sleep. And when the prophet finally reached Horeb, God did not come in the earthquake or the fire but in a gentle whisper — the divine equivalent of kneeling down on the pavement beside someone who has nothing left.

God does not meet our emptiness with a lecture. He meets it with bread, with presence, and with a still, small voice that says, "Whenever you're ready."