Encouragement

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Are you ready for the Spiritual Olympics?

As a young child, I remember watching the Olympic Games in amazement. All of the athletes seemed so practiced, so perfect and yet they made their sport look so easy, as if anyone could do it.

My favorite part of the Olympics was always the gymnastics competition. Young athletes, such as Mary Lou Retton and Julianne McNamara, would swing gracefully through the air from the low bar to the high bar, never missing a beat. I would hold my breath as I watched the small framed gymnasts flying through the air as if they had wings, then they would “stick” the landing, as if it was something they were born to do.

I awoke one morning with the image of a gymnastic competition going through my mind, except it was me on the poles and I was amazingly working them with ease, just as the gymnasts in the Olympics had, flying from pole to pole then landing as gracefully as a butterfly on a daisy in springtime.

It was a wonderful dream, but I did not feel worthy of such athletic accomplishment. Almost immediately I said to myself, “I could only do that with a lot of bruises and broken bones first!”

That is when I saw the similarity between my spiritual walk and the practice the Olympians put in on a daily basis. The old saying goes, “practice makes perfect”. In this case, I would add “and makes bumps and bruises”. When we practice our spiritually on a daily basis we grow stronger and stronger. We become mighty athletes, not in our physical bodies but in our walk with the Lord.

In my own life, some would say I have been through a lot with the Lord, some would argue, but whatever the case, I have definitely earned some bruises along the way. I have fallen off the poles more than once, and have an inclination to fall off frequently, especially when things get tough.

I believe the Lord allows us these practice runs for when we have to compete in tests and trials. We must practice spiritually every day, so that when the pressure is on, we’ll be ready!

Heather Huckaby
Copyright 2007

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