Yesterday as I was leaving work I checked my email one last time and happened to see a video about a little boy with cerebral palsy who had the courage to run in a race with his classmates. I was so blessed by this home video of this amazing young man that I had to write about it, but first, here is the video I saw…
As the race got to about the half way point tears began streaming down my face. This little boy was running with all the strength on legs that didn’t seem to work right and with arms that couldn’t seem to flow in motion with his body. He struggled against the exhaustion of a mind that had the will but a body that seemed to fail him.
Then something amazing happens! Matt’s coach runs up and tries to help him along. If you listen closely to the video you can hear Matt’s mother say “Matt really looks up to his coach”. Them when all his other classmates have finished the race they gather around Matt, who is still running, and begin to cheer him on. Matt finished the race that he started with the encouragement of his friends and his coach.
After watching this video I got a picture of the way the church should work. You see, Matt is like a Christian. He started the race strong, like any Christian, but he quickly slows his pace as he starts to struggle. Our sin nature slows us down, just like cerebral palsy slows Matt down. Just like Matt who’s mind is normal, but who’s body doesn’t quite work the way it should, our minds and hearts are being transformed, but our body’s still don’t work the way they were intended too.
However, here is the cool part; God is like Matt’s coach. He comes up alongside of us and encourages us. God tells us over and over again that we can do it. That we are doing great, “you’re almost there”. Then, if the church is working the way it should, its people filter in behind and around God (the coach) and surround the one who is struggling and they all start cheering us on to help us finish the race.
What a great picture of how the church should work.
Way to go Matt; for teach us how to never give up and thank you to his classmates for teaching us how to encourage the people around us who are struggling.
