“The sun…rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race”
READ
REFLECT
The Games athletes are beginning their “race” today. They are likely experiencing a number of emotions, and these emotions will certainly fluctuate throughout the weekend. Of all the emotions an athlete can experience, joy is specified in today’s passage. An athlete’s joy is compared to the rising of the sun. What do these two have in common?
Both the sun, and an athlete, have a job to do. They each have opportunity to be seen by witnesses. What is certainly true about the sun, and likely true in great athletes, is they will do this job with great joy no matter the size of the crowd of witnesses.
What is the sun’s job? “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.” When the sun rises, it has great joy because it is doing what it was designed to do. A great athlete shares this same joy when they have opportunity to run their race. They are doing what they were designed to do. No matter who else witnesses their efforts, they are in their element. But, what is the job they were designed to do? Isn’t it the same as the sun?
We pray these great athletes experience the joy they were created for – to proclaim the glory of God!
RESPOND
1. Why do you compete, or train?
2. How could an athlete’s efforts change depending on who is watching?
3. If your efforts differ due to the crowd, what does this tell you about your motivation?
4. How can you display the glory of God when you compete, or train?
I compete and train to feel good. After attending Faith Rx’d I have come to know that I compete and train to use the gifts that God has given me. I hope that my attitude and efforts never change (whether in a crowd or not) as I am trying to do all that I do for the glory of God and not to highlight me.
I train in order to be the best athlete I can be under the grace of God so that I can glorify and honour him with the gifts and abilities that he has given me! I also train because as Coach Arnold said in his amazing article ‘Our platform is granted by God for his glory. Nothing else.’ Even though my platform is nowhere near that of a games athlete’s I still desire to live with faithful presence in the spaces that God has placed me, whether it be in my role as an athlete or a coach, I want to bring glory to God. An athlete’s efforts could change if there is someone in the crowd who they want to impress or make them proud. If my efforts were to differ due to the crowd this would mean that I am not competing or training to bring glory to God, but to bring glory to myself and make others proud of me. I can display the glory of God when I train by making sure my heart is in the right place, being joyful, showing love to others who are training with me, and by giving all of my effort to honour God.
I train to get better, to practice taking steps of faith, whether physical, mental or emotional, to continually trust in the Lord’s grace. My effort’s do change from environment to environment, a lot of the times out of trying to display a certain identity, that I am a good crossfitter. I know my effort should not change, and that I am to always give thanks to the Lord for everything that I can do. The fact that my effort’s can change, means that I do struggle with people pleasing and identity misplacement. Fixated eyes on Christ = key. If I trust in Him who gave me this body, and focus on thanking Him with each rep, each extra lb, and each person that comes in the gym, I think that should be good 🙂