Whether you watch any of the specific Olympic events or not, I’m sure you see updates from Rio on the news and social media. Stories of athletes and their families, their victories, and their defeats.
They have sacrificed everything to be front and center on this world stage. The road has been long and difficult. Many of these athletes and their families have uprooted their lives to move across the country to a place where there are better training facilities. The athletes are up at the crack of dawn training for several hours. Then it’s off to work or to school, only to return later in the evening for more training. They do this for hours every day, day after day, month after month, year after year. They push their bodies to the limit, display amazing determination, and learn how to focus in the midst of extreme pressure.
They are familiar with sacrifice and accustomed to facing challenges.
But what about us?
When facing an Olympic-sized trial, what is our response?
Is our faith in God strong enough to trust in spite of insurmountable odds? To love in spite of the conditions of other people’s hearts? And to step out even when we are on our own with no crowd to cheer us on?
This is where the “rubber meets the road”… where faith isn’t just a nice Sunday school word spoken in religious circles or a word printed in a pretty font on the front of a $15 T-shirt.
We define the word “faith” by the way in which we live out the challenges we face.
Sometimes it’s a challenge from God asking us to step out into action and pursue what He is asking us to do. Other times, the challenge is a circumstance or problem that shakes us to the core. And though these two challenge scenarios are totally different, they both require a response. And that response reveals the strength of our faith and how we truly feel about God.
It’s not easy. There is no cookie cutter formula or five simple steps.
Sometimes we barely have an ounce of energy to take the next breath.
But . . . we have His power.
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor. 4:8-9. ESV)
I don’t know what trials you are facing. I don’t know how hard your road has been lately or how often you have been on the verge of despair. All I know is that the call to hang on in faith is one that God gives us the power to answer. But we have to make the choice to take one more step and trust Him no matter what.
No matter what the diagnosis is.
No matter what the checkbook balance is.
No matter how empty the house is, how barren the womb is, or how lonely the day is.
God knows when we are barely hanging on.
(He won’t let go.)
God knows when we are emotionally exhausted.
(His love is unwavering.)
You are not crushed. You are not forsaken or destroyed. In Him, you are loved and treasured.
You may not be an Olympic athlete and, in fact, you may only have enough stamina to barely put one foot in front of the other. But faith says “I will trust in God despite all my unanswered questions.”
And so we inhale grace and exhale faith one breath at a time. In this slow and steady rhythm, God grows us and sustains us. And for this moment, that is more than enough.