The tension was high. It was their last chance, and they carried the hopes of a nation on their shoulders or more precisely on their feet. Thousands watched and waited to see what the outcome would be. But the results were not what many had hoped for. Even though they had done their best and had won, they still failed to achieve their goal as they fell short of the time they needed. The Jamaican 4x400 meters men’s team would not be going to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Some Jamaicans bemoaned that the best runners had not made themselves available. The team consisted of college students who were weary after running for months, but they gave all they had even though it was just not enough.
After watching the race, in my despair I turned on worship music, and the words pierced through my despondency, “He is faithful in every season, so why would He fail now? He won’t. He won’t fail.” These are words from the song Firm Foundation. I smiled and realized that although my beloved Jamaican 4x400 meters men’s team had failed, my beloved God can never fail. He doesn’t need a last chance, but He gives us chance after chance. We can always hope in Him and He will always have the best outcome. This outcome may not always look like what we expect, but it is the best. He is more than enough. He never falls short, and everything is in His timing. And what is so amazing is that He is available for us when we call on Him.
I called on the Lord in distress; The Lord answered me and set me in a broad place. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is for me among those who help me; Therefore I shall see my desire on those who hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Psalm 118:5-9
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I put my confidence in the wrong people. When I put my hope in man instead of God, I am often disappointed. Like the Jamaican relay team there are limitations on man, but God is not limited. He is more than able. Actually, I heard those words on another worship song on the playlist - You are more than able. There is nothing God cannot do except sin of course. There is nothing too hard for the Lord and with Him nothing is impossible. Yet, we are the ones who put limitations on the limitless God who never fails because of our unbelief and disobedience.
When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” So they were offended at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country and in his own house.” Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:54-58
When we don’t understand who God is and what He can do, this leads to unbelief and can limit the mighty works He can do in our lives. We question Him as if He were a man and not the Creator of man, not truly understanding His greatness. Sometimes we may be offended by what God expects us to do so we disobey Him. When we disobey God, we cannot expect Him to do great things in our lives. For example, when the Lord tells us to give liberally and willingly, we may get upset because we want to keep for ourselves what He wants us to give.
Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. 2 Corinthians 8:1-5
I was proud of the young Jamaicans who made themselves available and gave everything they had in them to try to make their country qualify for the Olympics. The senior more experienced athletes may have felt they had good reasons for not being available for what many believed was an important race. Paul had a similar situation with the Corinthians, as they were not giving as they said they would, so he wrote to them about the Macedonians who were even giving beyond their ability and about how God was giving them grace. The Corinthians had a lot but were holding back on what they promised to give. However, Paul explained to them that it was advantageous for them to give what they said they would. They were limiting God’s grace in their lives when they didn’t give as they had promised.
But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. As it is written: “He has dispersed abroad, He has given to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.” Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God. 2 Corinthians 9:6-11
God is a father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, and He puts the lonely in families. These people are on God’s heart. James tells us in his letter to the twelve tribes of Israel that pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to be corrupted by the world. When we refuse to give of our resources, our gifts and our time, we are not only disobeying God, but we are demonstrating that we don’t trust Him, and we may already be corrupted by the mentality of the world. When we don’t give of ourselves and our God-given gifts, we all lose. We can see that because a couple talented runners may not have given of themselves then this has impacted a nation. When we don’t give freely of ourselves then we fail our church, our community, our nation and the world, and we may fail to see the mighty works of the God who never fails in our lives.
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