Watching the Olympics touches my heart on so many levels. I thought about that last night while watching amazing feats of physical prowess and moments where success or losses overwhelmed the athletes emotionally.
For most of them, their journey started years before with a huge, seemingly impossible dream to win a medal and to stand on the podium while their national anthem played.
Years of effort went into that dream. Mornings where they rolled out of bed before the rest of the world was awake and headed off for long days of training. It included years of financial sacrifices, missing fun times with friends, and sometimes even being away from those they love.
Read More: When You’re in a Spiritual Race
They put in days, months and years of grueling physical conditioning, pushing them past what they thought were their limits. They experienced failure, falls and injuries that required painful therapy. But they kept their eyes on the goal. They didn’t quit.
And the result? Many of them did stand on that podium, medals around their necks, and tears on their faces as the world watched them and their country be honored. Fans in attendance cheered in support of the athletes who had sacrificed so much for that day.
And for those athletes who didn’t win, at least they knew they’d given it their all.
Contrast that with what I’ll call “The Faith Olympics.” Imagine the scenario with me. God puts a big dream on our hearts, and we say, “Yes, let’s do it!”
We start out well (for a few days at least!) but then we let things slide. We don’t condition our hearts by reading God’s Word. We won’t sacrifice by getting up early in the morning to pray. I mean, who has time for that?
We don’t take conscious steps to make those big dreams happen. And then if we fail at any point along the way, we say, “See, God, I told you it wouldn’t happen!” We quit. And God’s dreams for us fall by the wayside.
Let’s not be guilty of letting God’s dreams for us die. It took years for the athletes to make it to the Olympics—and often the fulfillment of our dreams as Christians takes time as well.
Now’s the time to condition our hearts, to run the race well for God. Let’s remember that others are watching our journey of faith—and even more importantly, God is watching to see if we’ll be faithful.
Let’s determine that we won’t quit. That we’ll give it our all. And at the very least, let’s do our best. Because at least we’ll know we tried.
Let’s keep our eyes on the goal!
