Dreams and Devastation

Last night I watched in horror as the American men's Olympic 4 x 100 relay team saw their gold medal dreams go up in flames when they dropped the baton on the last leg of the race. I thought of all the hours and days of training that they put into perfecting their running technique. All the time in the gym strengthening their bodies to Olympic perfection. All the focus they poured into reaching that one goal: Olympic gold. The irony is that their training was successful. Going into the last pass of the relay, the Americans had a decisive lead and they were handing off to their fastest runner. The race was theirs to lose...and what made them lose it? A simple baton pass.

If I said, "Hey, pass me the ketchup," you would grab it and hand it over to me. Yet it was something as simple and small as this that cost those runners their dreams. Even a baby in diapers can hand an empty bottle to his mom to ask for more. How could a team of professional athletes let the most natural of actions rob them of a sure victory?

I'm no athlete. Really. Being an uber-competitive person does not make one an athlete, but we are a lot like those runners. We want to make an impact for the kingdom of God. We want our names to be remembered for the difference we will make in this world. We want to see God do things in our generation that would blow the minds of anyone who comes before or after. We train for it. We plan for it. We search for it. But have we dropped the baton?

We want to see God move in people's lives, but do we really want to see him move in our own? Have we kept our eyes on him or have we looked past him to the glorious goal ahead? Is our simple, quiet time with God more important to us than the loud, public worship we shout to the world? Are the main things the main things?

An Olympic gold medal is something that a person has forever. It symbolizes the work, effort and time that went into winning it and represents an accomplishment that no one can ever take away. God has gold medals just waiting for us. He wants to hang them on our necks and say, "Well done! You ran a great race. You did it!" What are the fundamental things you are neglecting that could cost you that gold?

Not half an hour later, the American women's 4 x 100 relay team dropped the baton too...