The GOLD Medal Performance ?

I am an Olympic fanatic. I love watching the competition and the stories behind the competition. When I watched and listened over the two week period, The story of Michael Phelps was enthralling as it transpired over the course of a week. The story of someone who worked very hard in his young life to seek a goal that will be unmatched for many years to come. The gold medals provided some of the best watching sports in a long time. This was a great story of grit and determination and the triumph of focus on a goal.

Well...

My life story could be more characterized by another Olympic event not receiving so much press.

Chinese Olympic rower Zhang Liang turned up for his double sculls heat brimming with confidence. At 6-feet-4-inches tall, Zhang, 22, is a star among approximately 2,000 professional full-time rowers supported by the Chinese government. Zhang has been rowing for six years, training for up to eight hours a day at government-sponsored training facilities.

He showed up...

...Unfortunately the race had started ten minutes before.

He wrongly remembered his time as that of the third group, but actually it was the second group. He missed his raced and was disqualified from the doubles competition later in the week. There will likely be serious consequences for Zhang and his coaches for missing the race. A lifetime of training, lost in a moment.

This is how God has been working in me but with a different outcome. I have showed up "late in life" on many occasions. I have let people down, I trained hard but I did not show up for the race. I tried to "row on my own" This is a personal disappointment as I get older and look back on life. But GOD, has shown me a new way to look at life. A life not focusing on me but a life of relying on him for training and wisdom. I need to be faithful that God has created me in his image but I am broken before him and need his strength every day.

The real issue is not God's faithfulness, but mine. The history of God's faithfulness to Israel and to his promises is found in the Scriptures. I can depend and rely on him to do what he promises, despite the apparent circumstances of my life. The real issue is whether or not I choose to truly love him and live for his purposes when life becomes unbearable and faith becomes hard. This verse has no second, but the ring of hope of faith to persevere when there is no easy reason for doing so. Faith is rooted in Jesus who triumphed over death, Satan, and sin.

I have already won the GOLD Medal while I await finally prize. I need to keep on training but for a different purpose!

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ( not mine )
    -- Romans 8:28