As parents, we are living in the wild and wacky world of youth sports. Events that don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, unless you’re the child competing, the parent of said child, or the grandparents of said child. My oldest girls wrapped up their summer swim season last night as they swam in the local All-Stars event. For children that are only five and seven years old, this event was no doubt the biggest event they have ever seen. Neither my wife nor I could stand at the poolside as our child swam we took our daughters to the pool deck door dropped them off, said good luck, then we turned on our heels and walked upstairs to the cheap seats. When they got on the pool deck it was just them their coaches and the water. As I waited for them to swim I couldn’t help but think about all that went into getting them to that point. I think of the time our oldest first went swimming, she had her little Floaties on and she kicked and splashed in the water, I remember taking my second daughter to swimming lessons and sitting in the lobby as she learned to dive and get her head wet, and gradually learning to swim from one cone to the next. I remember sitting on hot pool decks as they swam hour after hour at our local YMCA. I remember all the time spent in our neighborhood pool helping our girls learn their strokes just a little bit better. Now their entire season comes down to one meet.
For the girls, I can’t imagine what it’s like to walk onto that pool deck with dozens of officials and coaches and hundreds of swimmers. The pool was nearly the size of a football field, and the atmosphere had to have been the most intensely loud, hyped athletic event of their young lives. So there they were standing on the starting blocks mom or dad cheering from the stands, waiting for the horn to sound. Both girls swam well, finished their races, and were greeted by my wife and me in the lobby following their races.
In some small way maybe that’s what it’s like as Christ follower. Jesus created us and gave us the gifts and abilities that we need to live in this life. Countless people have helped each of us in our faith journeys, parents who brought us to church, youth leaders, friends, pastors, mentors, the list goes on and on. Those people and our heavenly father, all, cheer us on from the bleachers! Just like the author of the book of Hebrews describes for us in the 11th chapter, the image of the faithful of heaven, God himself cheering us to run the race, or in this case swim the race. Our heavenly father may not be here to physically hold our hands today, but he has prepared us, he has put people in our path, and he no doubt sits from heaven and cheers us on.
So the next time you feel abandoned, the next time you feel alone, the next time you feel like you just can’t go on. Let’s remember how much Jesus cares for you. How much he desires for you to finish the race. God has equipped us, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. It is God’s desire for us to finish the race that is marked out for us. So from now on, as my children continue to compete in whatever athletic season they have at that particular time, I will continue to cheer them on from the sidelines. Every time I do that, I will be reminded of the small simple truth that no matter what we do in this life our heavenly father will never stop cheering for us, he will never abandon us, and he will always desire us to finish the race marked out for us.