How often is a sports competition decided right
at the end? Do you remember the World’s 800 metres in the 2004
Olympics? Kelly Holmes wasn’t leading after 795 metres and she
probably would not have been leading after 805 metres. At the
half-way stage she was nearer to last than first! What mattered was
that she was leading after 800 metres. She had a plan for the race
and the courage and discipline to stick to it. How many times had
she run that race in training and in her mind?
In chapter 6 our old friend Daniel encountered a tricky
situation.
The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors
have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the
decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next
thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions'
den. Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it
cannot be altered-in accordance with the laws of the Medes and
Persians, which cannot be repealed." So King Darius put the decree
in writing. Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been
published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows
opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees
and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.
Daniel 6:7-10
If you know the rest of the story, Daniel was arrested and thrown
into a den of lions but God rescued him (Read about it in Daniel 6).
How did Daniel find the courage to do the stand up to the king –
literally on pain of death – when the pressure was on. The answer is
that it didn’t start that morning. Remember when we first met Daniel
as a teenager and he asked the king’s servant to allow him to eat
vegetables and not the king’s rich food. Daniel had learned the
discipline of doing the right thing over a period of years. When the
big test came, he was ready.
 This
is an area where being a sportsperson helps you as a Christian.
You understand the discipline of practice, practice, practice
until everyone knows the drill and their part in it. When it happens
in the match situation, under pressure, you are not fazed because
you have done it repeatedly in training. Similarly your Christian
witness in the club is built on the discipline of daily prayer and
Bible reading and taking you stand for Christ in the simple things
so that you are ready in the big tests.
"Lord God Almighty, You have asked me to serve you in this
club with all my gifts, all my strength and all my ability, you've
asked me to represent you in the world of sport to the uttermost.
Lord, today where I have to draw lines and say that is not right for
me, or that's okay, I need your wisdom. Please help me".
Stuart Weir and Graham Daniels
Also in this series on Daniel
Drawing the line
Not getting carried away
Life's a rollercoaster
The long haul
Things that last
Making a
difference
An audience of one
He
could never become a Christian
Does it matter?
Being there for
Christ Writing
on the wall |
|
