Razor Thin.

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21

In the 100 Meter butterfly finals of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Michael Phelps touched the wall one hundredth of a second before Milorad Cavic to win his seventh gold medal of those games. A hundredth of a second is the smallest measurement in swimming so there is no smaller margin of victory possible in that sport. The butterfly stroke is considered the most difficult in swimming because it requires flawless technique. The videotape of the event shows that Cavic, coming to the wall is actually swimming faster than Phelps, but at the last minute, perhaps in an attempt to exert extra effort, lifts his head slightly breaking form and inadvertently slowing himself down. Phelps, with his head still down in perfect form, reaches for the wall and wins. As Christians, we need to be sure we follow God’s will and do not revert to our own plans.

Even the brightest and most prepared of us, in a sense, wander through life. We don’t know what is going to happen and we don’t know what obstacles we will have to face. Only God does. Only he can prepare us perfectly and lead us directly. Just as Moses smote the rock when God tells him to speak to it, we sometimes walk when we are to run and wait when we need to act because it seems right to us. You might be confronting a difficult decision today. Perhaps you have options in front of you and feel you need to act now. Make sure you spend some serious time in prayer asking for God’s guidance to make the decision that establishes his desire, not the one that fulfills your plan.

My prayer for you today is that you keep your head down and reach for the wall you know is there.

Deacon Larry Woodard