Oh, How I Love the Olympics...

Just over a month ago, many people sat and watched in amazement as the Olympics went underway. I was one of those people. I love watching the Olympics! I don't know exactly what it is, but I can't get enough! Maybe it's because I'm a competitor. Maybe it's because I'm an athlete. Maybe it's because I love watching sports. Maybe it's the amazement of what these athletes can do. Whatever the reason, I just know that what these people can do amazes me every single time. It's nothing new really, the same events every four years, the same countries favored in certain events, it's all the same. But there's just something about watching these athletes compete on such a high level that intrigues me. 

As I sat watching the Olympics this year, something was different in my heart. This year I thought about all of the training that each athlete must have gone through to get to this point. The hours of training, the amount of time spent just in one day that they must dedicate to their sport, the number of sacrifices they must have made. Normally, I just watch in amazement like these people are not completely human. But they are. They are no different than me in our make-up as human beings. There was something different about them though...I just couldn't put my finger on it. What is so different about these people? Why do they get to go to the Olympics and I don't? The very clear, simple answer is this: they train for it and I do not. Beyond this though, the conclusion that I came to is this: the difference between them and me is that they are focused on a goal and are working towards it and I am not. Excuse me, was not. Here is how God has changed my heart, starting with these thoughts about the Olympics...

As I sat there thinking about these things over and over, another thought came to my mind: God gave these people the same amount of time in one day as me. What am I doing with it? NOTHING. The answer was nothing. I couldn't help but sit there thinking I am wasting the precious time God has given me. Facebook, Candy Crush, texting friends about nothing meaningful, and the list goes on and on. God convicted me and I knew that something needed to change. For me, that meant deactivating my Facebook page. That was the biggest time waster and it needed to go.

Beyond that, I knew that God has a purpose for every one of us, but that I was probably making it much more difficult than it had to be. I was so much more important than anything else. Me first. Look out for number one. Oh, what pride! If I was going to be used by God in amazing ways, then I had to lay myself down first. The lyrics to Chris Tomlin's song Lay Me Down put it perfectly.

With this heart open wide

From the depths, from the heights

I will bring a sacrifice

With these hands lifted high

Hear my song, hear my cry

I will bring a sacrifice

I will bring a sacrifice

Chorus:

I lay me down I'm not my own

I belong to you alone

Lay me down, lay me down

Hand on my heart this much is true

There's no life apart from you

Lay me down, lay me down

Lay me down, lay me down

Letting go of my pride

Giving up all my rights

Take this life and let it shine

Take this life and let it shine

Chorus:

I lay me down I'm not my own

I belong to you alone

Lay me down, lay me down

Hand on my heart this much is true

There's no life apart from you

Lay me down, lay me down

Lay me down, lay me down

Bridge:

It will be my joy to say Your will Your way

It will be my joy to say Your will Your way

It will be my joy to say Your will Your way always

If you'd like to take a listen, here's the song:

Anyway...all this to say that the Lord will do what He pleases, but when I put Him first instead of myself, He is able to accomplish so much more! The next few entries in this blog will be about amazing stories that happened because God was first and was working through me! Until next time...