The Difference Makers

If you have been watching the Olympics, you’ve seen that CTV has done a wonderful job on a segment called “Difference Makers.” It gives the viewer an opportunity to see into the lives of people who have inspired are athletes. We watched that magical moment as Alexandre Bilodeau captured a gold medal in the men’s mogul’s event at Cypress Mountain on Sunday, marking him forever as the first Canadian athlete to win Olympic gold on Canadian soil. The 22-year-old Bilodeau wasn’t the favourite coming in, but on a gloriously sunny day in West Vancouver he brought home a first-place finish — and forever cemented his name in the Canadian sports hall of fame. Bilodeau’s older brother, Frederic, who has cerebral palsy, was at the finish line and cheering wildly for his younger sibling. Bilodeau was close to tears when he spoke to CTV about his brother and his family. “A lot,” he said when asked how much of his historic medal belongs to Frederic. “It’s really getting me right now. My brother is my inspiration. Growing up with handicapped people puts everything back in perspective and he taught me so many things in life. My parents did, too! On Sunday night, I found myself cheering for our Canadian Ice Dancers, as our great country watched them win that gold medal. With the pressure mounting from the cheering fans, with every eye in Canada glued to the television screen, and with every finger crossed, we watched as Tessa Virtue of London, Ont., and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont., dazzled the judges and carved out a little history for themselves by becoming the first Canadians - and the first North Americans - to win an Olympic gold medal in ice dancing. When being interviewed Virtue said, "It's been such a journey, and so many people have helped us along the way.” As God’s children our “Difference Makers” can be found in Hebrews 12:1-2…“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” I like how Eugene Petterson paraphrased this verse when he wrote, “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we'd better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” The “cloud of witness” the writers are referring to are found in the previous chapter, (Hebrews 11) there was Noah who built a ship in the middle of a dry land because God warned him about something that he never experienced before, there was Abraham who despite having no ideas of where his travels would take him left behind everything familiar to him and followed God’s voice. After giving countless examples the writer admits he could go on but he would run out of time, writing about the lives of those who were protected from lions, fires, and swords, those who under torture, refused to give in and go free, those who were abused with whips, sawed in two, murdered in cold blood and those who were homeless because the world would not receive them, and after thinking about such powerful examples, the writer says, “of whom the world was not worthy.” Faith is simply-“Forsaking All I Trust Him”, when your back is up against the wall, when everything seems lost, when you feel as if you have no hope to continue, do you trust God? We all go through those times in our lives when we are faced with the choice to trust or fear, but right now, you find yourself in a rough spot, perhaps your children have left home, you were just diagnosed with a sickness, or your savings account is drying up, are you going to trust God? Then allow those who have gone on before us to shoot adrenaline into your souls!

Pastor Paul,

May God continue to bless you as you remain faithful to Him!