A Struggle of Olympic Proportions

Jeremiah 1:4-10 and Psalm 71:1-6

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This week let's take a look at the Olympic athletes that, although they didn't win or place in their individual events, really are the truly champions of this Olympic games. The Refugee Olympic team is made up of athletes who were forced to flee their countries due to war and violence. There are ten of them, from Syria, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.  Their stories are all different, they range in age from teenager to mid-30s and they are the best of what the world has to offer.

They have endured struggle and loss and heartache that most of us can never dream of. They have saved lives besides their own, they have had to start all over not only in another city, but in another country, sometimes having to learn a new language. To find the strength and fortitude to become Olympians is truly remarkable.

And the Olympic committee that decided that this 'refugee' team was a goal worth having. In the midst of all the other Olympic preparations that the International Olympic Committee has to undertake, they took the effort to collaborate with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees to form the team through tryouts and offering them Olympic-level coaching.

Jeremiah 1 says "you shall go to all to whom I send you," after a reluctant Jeremiah doubts his ability to be the prophet he is expected to be. He is also told, "See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant."

The Psalmist says in Psalm 71
In you, O LORD, I take refuge; let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me and save me.

This is a reminder that no matter what circumstances life throws our way, we always have a refuge in God. That God will be with us in the trials and tribulations of life. 

These refugees remind us that our inner strength which comes from God can propel us to heights that we never imagined possible. And it does not have to end with a gold medal on a podium for us to receive our highest reward.

Simone Biles, gold medalist all-around winner for Team USA women's gymnastics said in an interview that she was lucky because she had parents who could afford to provide lessons for her and give her what she needed to succeed.  She has an understanding that so much of the world, so many like her, do not have the opportunities she does. And, in the case of the refugees, perhaps some of them did have those resources, but it was taken away from them in the cruelty of war and destruction of their homelands.

What is God appointing us to in this place?  What refuge from what storms does God offer to you?

Email me at peverhart@niwotumc.org or comment by clicking the link below.