When the Olympics End

I love the olympics. Athletics and competition? What’s not to love? The very best in the entire world come together to prove their abilities. These people have spent their entire lives training for these very moments. I can imagine their lives, as well as their families’ lives, revolved entirely around this superhuman talent.

Too often, I catch myself comparing my life with theirs: “that 16-year-old gymnast has already accomplished much more than I ever will,” or “that volleyball player would’ve absolutely dominated me on her worst day, even on my best day, I wish I had her talent,” and on and on and on.

But what happens when the olympics are over? When the athletes retire? When they’re just regular people like you and me instead of an olympic athlete?

I think we all have our own versions of “olympic athlete.” Maybe it really is being an athlete. Maybe it’s being a student or you’re a parent whose baby just graduated high school and is moving away to college and you’re empty nesting for the first time. Maybe you were working full time until you had your first baby and then became a stay-at-home parent. Maybe you’ve just lost your spouse after caring for him or her for a period of time. Maybe you’re in a job that no longer gives you the joy and fulfillment it once did.

We’re human. We all have a tendency to place our identities in the things we do or who others see us as, rather than who God says we are. It can become all-consuming, it can be dangerous, it can hurt. But God calls us sons and daughters, he calls us beloved. Our true identity can really only be found in our Creator.

I fully believe that he gives each of us skills and passions in order to glorify him and build his kingdom. However, it can be so easy to get wrapped up in all the “stuff” of the world. So what happens when all of that is stripped from us, whether it’s expected or not? I’ll tell ya what happens: an identity crisis, the overwhelming fear of no longer having a purpose, loneliness, FOMO, grief, isolation, deep sadness, and countless other emotions. The question I’ve really been wrestling with this week as I watch the olympics is how can I respond in the healthiest way when something like this inevitably happens in my own life?

It’s always easier for me to encourage those I love when they’re in the deepest darkness. I wonder what it would look like if I spoke truth over my own situation in the same way I do my closest people?

It would look a lot like this:

God isn’t going to let you miss out on what he has planned for you.

He’s gotten you through every other crisis, why would he leave you now?

There are countless people who love you and want to walk with you in this season.

His promise at the end of the darkness is of light and unconditional love and grace.

What he has planned for you will be a million, trillion, bazillion times better than what you can imagine.

Romans 8:28 assures us that, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” He’s for you. He loves you. Just because he chose you, you have purpose.

So when you feel stuck in the pit of darkness, wondering how you could possibly have purpose after all of the things you counted most important: his light is your purpose. His kingdom is your purpose.