I love watching the Olympics. It is full of patriotic spirit and it is the biggest stage these athletes will ever compete on. I love how these games bring out the best, and sometimes worst, in those who are competing. We saw Michael Phelps continue to make history. We saw Simone Biles and Ali Reisman be the best gymnast in the world; but what about Abbey D’Agostino and Nikki Hamblin? Did you see these athletes finish first in the 5,000- meter run? Did you hear about them on NBC? No. That is because New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin and American runner Abbey D’Agostino tripped over each other and finished last and next to last in the women’s 5,000-meter semi-final. After the race, during the interviews Hamblin expressed her gratitude to the “runner she had never met before” for helping her finish the race.
Does that sound familiar? Someone who we have never met before helping us run and finish the race. That is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Every single day we fall down in this race called life and yet He picks us up and says, you have got to finish the race. Hebrews 12:1 says “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” This verse sounds a lot like the Olympic stage. So many people were watching these athletes and it would have been so easy for D’ Agostino to keep running and only worry about herself. But D’ Agostino did not give in to those pressures, she helped Hamblin up and with perseverance they both finished the race. That happens so often in our world as well. As Christians we are constantly under the watchful eye of others, seemingly waiting for us to fail. When we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses we sometimes get caught up in what others might think about us helping someone who has fallen. We should learn to persevere through judgement from others and run the race God has set out for us. Helping others along the way.
God has perfectly set out our race as Christians. However, that does not mean there is never going to be a bump in the road that makes us stumble and sometimes even fall flat on our face. It does not matter how many times you fall as long as you keep getting up. I believe God allows us to fall to make us stronger, but not physically stronger. He strengthens our faith in Him by allowing us to be pushed to our limits, but all along He is beside us, cheering for us and knows we can finish the race.
D’ Agostino hurt her knee when she and Hamblin fell during the race, but they both finished. They finished because they were not alone. They finished because they were on the biggest stage in the world and they knew if there was any time to be strong, it was then. I can’t help but think God plans out our race in the exact same way. Not only is He by our side cheering us on, He puts other believers by our side to push us to finish the race. As for our biggest stage, as I mentioned before, we are on it every day. Someone is always watching and I think that helps us to be strong every day. It helps us to dig deep within us and to keep fighting.
We are not perfect and we are going to fail. But we serve a perfect God and we should lean on Him through the good as well as the bad. We should show our gratitude to the God we have never met, for helping us finish the race and get that final prize, which is our home in heaven.
