TIES OF GRACE DAILY
DEVOTIONS
Week 5 – Going For
the Gold!
Philippians 4:13 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
As most of the world, I have been watching the Olympics off
and on. I celebrate the wins and I feel
so sad with the losses. It is hard to
watch those athletes get so close and fall short. They represent the finest in all the
countries and it is evident the deep dedication they have to their sport. I was particularly moved watching Jordyn
Weiber, the USA gymnast who currently holds the world title and came in at the
top of the “fabulous five” gymnastics team.
She had a couple of slip ups that cost her 10ths of a point and landed
her in 3rd place for her team.
The rule is only 2 from one team can advance to the individual
all-around, therefore ending her dream of competing individually for the
gold. She was broken hearted. It was hard to watch her struggle with her
disappointment with all the cameras in her face. Bless her heart. But as I watch her and the others that
succeed or fall just short, the word that keeps coming to my mind is
perseverance. They Olympics are not
these athletes first time for hard competition.
I am sure we could look back through all of their careers and find many
highs and lows. The gold medalist
swimmer, Dana Vollmer, who broke a record in her 100 meter swim just a day
back, had disastrous Olympic trials in 2008 and didn’t even qualify in any
event. I am sure it was a crushing
blow. She could have chosen to walk
away. Instead, it is quite obvious that
she dug down inside of herself, determined towards perseverance, and ended up
not only qualifying for the games, but sweeping the gold with ease and a world
record to really seal the deal sweetly!
So as I watch and feel the joys with the victories and the sadness with
the losses, the resonating word remains perseverance. So as we start another week of daily
devotions together, I want to take some time and really look at some of the
spiritual giants in the bible that exhibited deep perseverance. I am always amazed when I read of some of
their journeys and all they endured and still yet, persevered. My prayer is that we will see the things in
them that led to their perseverance and apply those same attributes into our
own lives, so that we can finish our race well… not matter how many hurdles are
in the way or how “uphill” the journey seems to be. We have been set on a course, as we studied
last week, since before we were knit in our mother’s womb. That is a course destined for success through
Christ who strengthens us! We just have
to dig down, dig in, and run the race home.
This week, as we look at perseverance, my prayer is that we will look
deep into ourselves and identify the things that most concerns us about the
race God has us running. Identify the
costs and identify the gain if we persist and determine that nothing is more
valuable that God’s plan. This week, let’s face our obstacles with courage and
faith, knowing that with Christ, we really can do anything the God should
ask! What is stopping you from running
your race with determination and the perseverance God desires?
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