Olympic Fever!

Olympic Fever!

Bible Blast: Read Proverbs 3:5-6

Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the LORD our God. Psalm 20:7

I love the Olympics! They give us a chance to watch the “ending” to great athletic stories. God was teaching me something as I watched the pairs figure skating competition in the 2010 Winter Olympics.

When former figure skater Yao Bin decided to become a coach, he set the goal of winning gold at the Olympic level for China. To do this, he would not only have to improve the Chinese skating program drastically, but he would also have to defeat the powerhouse of the Russian skaters.

Russia approached the 2010 Olympics with their hopes set on a Russian male paired with a young girl from Japan whose dream was to win a gold medal. Because she was one of the world’s best, Russia gladly welcomed her to the team. This Japanese girl eventually changed her citizenship from Japan to Russia so she could compete.

Yao Bin set his hopes on the team of Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo. These two skaters were so old that they might as well have been in wheelchairs when it came to skating. He was thirty-eight. She was thirty-one. They had retired from skating but came back to compete.

Would this even be a contest? The world’s winning-est team powered up by a Japanese world champion versus two retired, never-winning-gold Chinese teammates?

On February 15, 2010, Yao Bin cried great tears of joy when the team of Shen and Zhao took the gold, followed by his other Chinese team, who took silver!

Russia placed fourth.

I don’t claim to know the faith of any of the competitors, but this story shows us what it looks like to trust in man-made chariots. Look back at today’s focus verse. I think that manipulating our lives at any cost is like trusting in chariots. And it often doesn’t pay. It didn’t pay for Russia and their Japanese skater. Instead, we can put our trust in God, knowing that he will work everything out for our good.

Girl Gab: How do you need to let go of things to trust in God today? Have you been trying to change who you really are so that you’ll be successful at something? Confess this to your mom and to God. Ask him to increase your trust in him.