Good morning,
The
world is watching as winter athletes from all over the world, including
some very warm countries, have sent the very best they have to
demonstrate their skills against one another. Many of these athletes
have been training for these games since they were little kids dreaming
big dreams of standing on the winners podium. When their turn comes to
compete, they are the picture of focused intensity and often end their
performance totally spent. Only a few of those who compete will ever
stand in the bright lights of success. What about the rest? They
trained and they tried, but they weren’t strong enough and skilled
enough to get the honors they had hoped for. And then, even if they did
succeed, who will remember them 20 years from now? And what will
happen to their finely tuned skills even 20 or 30 years from now?
The
Apostle Paul was very familiar with this kind of sports competition
when he was writing to the folks at Corinth (9:25,26) and used the image
of running and winning to encourage the church to live like the
athletes of his day. There was a difference in the image Paul was using
and the image that God was using to give us direction in how we train
and how we live. In the games, one person wins at each event. In life
with Christ, each family member can run to win. The key to this victory
is that we run with purpose and stay in the guidelines that God has
given us. It may not look like we are winners, but if we live by the
principle of obedience on a daily basis to the Lord of our life, in the
end, we will win his eternal prize for each of us.
When we watch
these kids do so many of these new sports, the only question that comes
to mind is, “How do they do that?” What we need to remember is that
when the people around us see us living a life of obedience and faith in
the face of all our problems and challenges, they will have the same
question. How do they do that? Isaiah lays out how we live the life of
victory in the face of overwhelming odds. God, by the power of his
Holy Spirit, gives us the power that allows us weak and powerless
followers of Jesus to keep on keeping on. Even when the people in the
world around us collapse with exhaustion, we will be able to keep on
going. He will give us new strength. Depending on how God has designed
us, we will sore like eagles, run and not grow weary or walk and not
faint. Dear Lord, please help us to keep our eyes on the prize and not
on the pain.
Isaiah 40:29 He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless. 30 Even youths will become weak and
tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. 31 But those who trust in
the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like
eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint
Roy Wisner
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