Weathering the storms of life, THE RIGHTEOUS ARE RESILIENT!
for though the righteous fall seven times, they RISE AGAIN,
but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes. Pr 24:16 NIV
15-16 O evil man, leave the upright man alone and quit trying to cheat him out of his rights. Don’t you know that THIS GOOD MAN, though you trip him up seven times, WILL EACH TIME RISE AGAIN? But one calamity is enough to lay you low. Pr 24:15,16 TLB
15-16 Don’t interfere with good people’s lives;
don’t try to get the best of them.
No matter how many times you trip them up,
GOD-LOYAL PEOPLE DON’T STAY DOWN LONG;
SOON THEY’RE UP ON THEIR FEET,
while the wicked end up flat on their faces. Pr 24:15,16 MSG
Troubles and calamities can be a watershed moment, some people will rise and go on but others will fall and not get up.
The movie ‘Chariots of Fire’ was based on the true life story of Eric Liddell, born to a missionary family in Tientsin, China, but with a great gift of running. ‘God has made me fast and when I run I feel His pleasure!’
In one scene in the movie, at an international event in Edinburgh, Liddell was shunted by an opponent and fell. Amazingly he got to his feet again and won the race and the Scottish crowd went wild with delight. Have you ever thought that there are people in heaven watching us and cheering us on, urging us to get back into the race of life?
Eric Liddell faced many challenges, especially over his faith. He wouldn’t run on the Sabbath and refused to compete in a heat for the 100 metres in the Paris Olympics 1924. It seemed as if his opportunity to run had gone, but then another member of the British team stepped aside and allowed Liddell to take his place in the 400 metre race. Eric Liddell was handed a note by one of the team masseurs before the race, ‘He who honours Me I will honour 1 Sam 2:30, Wishing you the best of success always’. Once again Liddell won the race in a new World and Olympic Record time and received an Olympic Gold medal. God truly had made this man fast and he fulfilled his God given potential that day.
Eric Liddell finished his life as a missionary in Weixian, China and he later died in a Japanese internment camp, on 21 February 1945. He had an inoperable brain tumour, but was greatly involved in the activities of the camp to the end. Before the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the Chinese authorities claimed that Liddel had turned down an opportunity to leave the camp and given his place to a pregnant woman. His last recorded words were, ‘It’s complete surrender’.
Heaven is watching and cheering us on, GET UP AND FINISH THE RACE!
God bless and keep you today.