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It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
Hebrews 12:7
Reflect
Today we reach the end of the Olympics, and I’m reflecting on some of the incredible performances we’ve seen in the past two weeks. I’m also reminded of some very brave athletes from previous Olympics who are remembered mainly for the way they competed even after they were hurt.
In 1976, Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto hurt his right knee during his floor exercise in the team competition. He didn’t want to let his team down, so he continued to compete in the next events — the pommel horse, where he scored a respectable 9.5. With his knee even more injured, he continued to the rings, where he put together a near-flawless routine. Launching himself into the air from eight feet above the ground, Shun somehow landed a perfect dismount and scored a 9.7. He was too injured to continue, but he inspired his teammates, who went on to with the team gold medal.
Twenty years later in Atlanta, Kerri Strug had her own moment of bravery. At the end of the team competition, the Americans appeared to need one decent vault from Kerri to secure the gold medal. Unfortunately, on her first attempt she came up short on the landing. Even worse, she severely injured ligaments in her ankle. Her coach, Bela Károlyi, told her the team needed her to try again, so Kerri summoned all of the strength and courage within her. Somehow she sprinted down the runway and executed an amazing vault, complete with a perfect landing. Her score of 9.712 was more than enough for the American women’s gymnastics team to win its first-ever Olympic gold medal.
Winning championships while severely injured might be rare, but in sports it’s fairly common to see athletes playing through the pain. If you’ve been watching during the past two weeks you’ve probably seen a lot of Olympians with bandages, braces and the brightly colored kinesio tape, which supposedly provided added support. One of my favorite football players, Roger Staubach, who played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, once said, “If you are not playing hurt, you are not really playing.”
My all-time hero definitely played hurt. Jesus Christ lived his life in rejection by the Jewish people, and he was misunderstood and falsely accused by the Jewish leaders. After they handed him over to the Romans, he was not only beaten — he was brutalized to the point of being unrecognizable. Worse than that, he carried to the cross sins — yours and mine — that He simply did not deserve. To say that he “played hurt” is a gross understatement.
That’s why it boggles my mind to hear people say that God would never let any of us suffer. Why should we think that we will have a perfectly comfortable life when He allowed His own Son to go through unimaginable suffering. Frankly, the difficult times are when we grow the most and learn the most about ourselves. C.S. Lewis said that, “God whispers to us in our well-being. God shouts to us in our suffering.”
Does it take suffering to make us appreciate blessing? And must we face death before we understand life? The writer of Hebrews seemed to think so when He wrote that, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
Don’t be afraid of playing hurt. Instead, embrace it, just as Jesus did. He won … and so will we.
Reflection copyright © 2021 Doug DeBolt and Charles Fulton.
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
