What is done in the dark will be exposed

There was an Under Armour commercial during the Summer Olympics in 2016, and it gave me goosebumps. It’s a well done commercial with some cool shots, and clearly, anyone watching the Olympics in the last 16 years has seen Michael Phelps at least once. We know in theory that it takes a lot of work to get to the Olympic level of competing. But the commercial well outlines all the things we never think about… the enormous amounts of food you have to consume, the crazy activities for muscle building, the extreme pain from injury and treatments. We love to rejoice in the victory, but hate to think about the costs required to get there.

But for good, or for bad, what’s done in the dark will eventually be exposed. It’s only what you do in the dark that can put you in the light.

Far too often we aim for the glory. We fight, tooth and nail for the recognition, the win, the medal. But how much do we fight for the character it requires to get there?

I was in total denial about what was actually required for me to become a doctor. The studying thing I had down- memorize more crazy processes and understand the ways things work- got it. But somewhere between 30 hour shifts, working all day without a meal, and watching patients bleed to death no matter what we did, I almost lost my nerve entirely. It’s not always the things that you expect that will take you out, it’s all the other things you have to give up or let go of that you never saw coming.

Swimmers never say “I love doing pullups,” they say they love to swim. But it’s all the things they hate and the things you have to give up in the process that make them worthy of the title they receive. If your medal or goal is wrapped up in you getting the perfect experience, you will never fight hard enough to get it.

The main thing that determines the race itself, is what you’re looking at in the process. Are you focused on the difficulties? On the distractions? On the glory? All of those are things that can change in an instant. But one thing that never fails is focusing on God. Because it’s the only place you can never truly lose. Even if the medal is not yours this time around, God promises that it will be worth our time. Being the overachiever that I am, I’m not always sure how all of it ends up, and how losing is ever better than the gold. But more than I trust my own hard work, I trust my God, both in the dark and the light. And I know He will work it all out, no matter what place I’m in.

 

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the game goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxed beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27