|
Listen to this devotional: |
Listen while you read: "Jesus Thou Joy Of Loving Hearts"1
(Lyrics) |
After four years, the time has come once again for the Olympic games! The wall-to-wall excitement this summer has already started with each nation's team selections in June and continues on with the opening ceremony along the Seine River in Paris on Friday, July 26, followed by the Olympics and the Paralympics. We all cheer for our own country's competitors and rejoice when they win a medal. But the moment passes quickly, and it's on to the next event. The competitor who just missed receiving a medal is quickly forgotten even though they were behind by only a fraction of a second or a whisker of an inch.
Simply making the national team can be as rigorous as the actual Olympic competition. Here's an example. I watched the swimming trials for the American Olympic team and learned that there were over 1,000 swimmers who qualified to try out for about 50 spots on the swimming team. The pool of competitors was quickly narrowed down to eight finalists in each event. I was rooting for one swimmer in the women's 100-meter breaststroke final. She was a local girl, and I had watched her in local high school swim meets. Only the top two finishers were placed on the team, however, and she missed a spot on the Olympic team by only a fraction of a second. I'm sure that her oh-so-close finish time will be forever etched on her heart. Heartbreak!
Proverbs 15:13 – A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit. (NLT)
Yes, the winner is elated, but the runner-up is quickly forgotten. One of my own runner-up moments — though mild in comparison to missing a spot on the Olympic team! — was a misspelled word in our county spelling contest. I have never misspelled "rhythm" since that day, however!
All of us can remember times of disappointment when something didn't turn out as we had hoped. Maybe it was a job that we had hoped for but did not get, or a car or a house dream that did not work out. There might have been disappointments in love, or grief due to a wrong decision.
We frequently hear the platitude that our struggles make us stronger. How so? On the most basic level, we learn that we can survive heartbreak and that life does go on. Our experience may help us through another disappointment that later on comes our way. Occasionally we realize in retrospect that our wish would not have turned out well. If nothing else, we can recognize that there is a rhythm (See? I got it right!) to life with joy and heartache taking turns along the way.
When we are overwhelmed with grief or disappointment, let's turn to God for comfort and compassion, for "He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds." (Psalm 147:3 NLT)
Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, we know that You guide each step that we take, and You know well our sorrows and disappointments. May we trust You to carry us through these disheartening times while we also remember good times. Amen.
Forward this devotional Share on Facebook
About the author:
Gail Lundquist <gail10833@gmail.com>
Beaverton, Oregon, USA
Send your feedback to the author
Amen, Gail.
So true – in times of grief we turn to God for support.
Thanks for that reminder – very timely! Your devotionals are always thought-provoking!
Dear Gail,
Thank you yet again for another excellent devotional. I so enjoy your contributions and the ‘rhythm’ of them.
Good morning, Gail,
Thank you for sharing this message which I am sure is something we have all dealt with.
My word was restaurant and like you, I have not spelled that word wrong.
God bless.
Gail, your examples of striving for lofty goals and missing by miniscule measures is thought-provoking. There are so many lessons we learn from what we might think as failures, but God uses as building stones for new things we could not have seen before. Thanks for causing me to reflect on God’s ways.
There is indeed a rhythm to life – I like the way you put it. My Dad said many years ago that ‘life is a series of ups and downs’. I think that helped me a lot – it gave me the impression that things will change – then when I “met the Lord” in my early 30’s, I found out that HE walks us through everything. Thanks be to God.
Good morning, Gail!
Thank you for your message today. It was lovely. Our merciful God is always near to lift us up and fill us with renewed strength while he mends our broken hearts with his compassion, love, and mercy.
Blessings!
Thank you, Gail, for today’s devotion.
I enjoyed it very much.
We must remember to praise and thank God when we experienced some disappointments.
Blessings to you,
(Quebec)
It never ceases to amaze me as to the number of times the “Daily Devotional” is on target with a current personal event.
Your theme today is an example.
I share with you another expression “The sun is always shining. It’s just a matter of which side of the cloud you are on.”
Blessings to you and yours.
Good morning, Gail,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on being so close, but not making it. I watch sometimes a spelling bee on the TV and if fascinates me the words I have never heard of that these young children can spell and know the meaning of.
God is always there to help us heal from whatever has happened – such security we have when we allow God in. Blessings.
Thank you, Gail, for another of your special and encouraging devotionals. Yes, Jesus is ever there watching over us and ready to enlighten us when we might feel down or discouraged. Reading your words today took me back to a time in my early school days, when in the summer we had baseball in the afternoon and during the winter we were indoors and had “Spelling Bees”. I was very poor at baseball and was always the very last one picked for a team, but I excelled at spelling and was always the very first one picked! Quite an emotional contrast I felt at those times. Our Lord definitely gives us individual talents and is ever deserving of our faith and gratitude. Blessings for these writings you prepare.
Amen and amen! Thanks for sharing this encouraging devotional with us. To God be the glory! BTW, in childhood I raced the kids next door who often bested me by a hair. Loved the feel of wind on my face as I ran.
Blessings.
Thanks, Gail. I remember some of those moments! Sadly, I didn’t always turn to Him for comfort.