The 2024 Olympics just wrapped up last night (August 11, 2024). This morning, I was listening to a radio program and heard something that got me to thinking about some things I could really relate to. The root story is that there was an athlete who was competing on the very last day of the Olympics, and as she did her event, she tripped and fell and scratched and was basically “done”. Later that day, a reporter asked her a question. This reporter saw the event and thought he saw her singing after she fell. So her asked what it was she was singing, she responded by actually singing the song for the media. It was a song I had never heard but it was about being on the edge of a cliff and about to fall and Jesus grabbed her and rescued her.
It was then something profound hit me. She had trained for a long time, made all kinds of sacrifices and I am sure spent countless hours trying to prepare for her event at the Olympics and then she tripped. BUT – had she not tripped and done her event just as she had planned and practiced for…today, no one would know her name or would have heard that message in song. She was able to spread some “God” with a lot of people that she would not have had this opportunity if she had not “failed”.
Wow…how many things in MY LIFE I can think of where I felt like a HUGE monumental failure and everything about my human nature and societal influences screamed at me “YOU SUCK!!!!” and then God quietly says “ah…perfect… exactly what/how/when I wanted it”
I challenge you to go beyond what the “world” says about your position or performance and recognize there may be a MUCH bigger plan unfolding here. So many things remind us about the temporal and the immediate, but the reality is: we have a much bigger FOREVER to consider over what petty things may happen in this lifetime.
I am trying to listen to my flesh and the world less and less every day, but it is still there and it is a daily challenge. Good luck to you and let’s get through this thing together!