8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,9not of works, lest anyone should boast.10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
On the February 12 edition of The Meeting House, you heard from Antoinette Tuff, a person in whom God was working - He prepared her for a defining moment in her life - she was working in a school office when a heavily armed gunman walked in, intent on doing harm. She was able to talk to this gentleman and essentially diffused the potentially catastrophic situation. God has saved us and desires to use us for His unique purposes. He wants us to do good works that proceed from our relationship into which we've entered by receiving the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. We have to be ready and willing to reflect His character, daily.
In John 15, Jesus emphasized the call that he placed on the lives of his disciples. This passage can be a reminder of how God wants to work in our lives.
15No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.16You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
The American medal count continues to rise in the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and in the women's snowboarding event in what is called the "halfpipe", two Americans won medals: Kaitlyn Farrington and Kelly Clark. Kelly, the bronze medalist, has been through this before, having competed in previous games. She's also a previous guest on The Meeting House, and you can catch that interview here. She is the author of a book called, Reaching New Heights.
According to a Baptist Press piece from 2010, Kelly grew up in Vermont, and snowboarding became her passion early in life. At age 18, she was competing in her first Olympics in Salt Lake City in the women's halfpipe, garnering the gold medal. She said, "I had every successful thing going for me...I'd won every major snowboard event you could ever dream about winning. I thought that when you are successful, you're happy. From an outside perspective I was living the dream. I had all the success and all the things you could ever dream about. But I found that it wasn't very fulfilling."
In a hotel room during a competition in 2004, Clark wrote in her journal that if this is what life is, she didn't want to do it anymore. Following that declaration, God began to orchestrate events in her life to bring her to himself. After a fellow competitor failed to qualify for the finals of the competition, Clark overheard a conversation when a friend reassuringly, almost in a joking manner, said, "Hey, it's all right. God still loves you." She went back to her hotel room and opened up the Gideon Bible, but didn't know where to start and didn't understand...so she walked down the hall and knocked on her competitor's door.
She said, "My name's Kelly...I think you might be a Christian, and I think you need to tell me about God."
That was the start of a five-month journey in 2004 that led Clark from despair and hopelessness to faith and freedom. She said, "I thought being a Christian was going to church and following rules and all sorts of religious things...But it's about having a relationship with Jesus."
Baptist Press did another piece on Kelly this week, and we get a glimpse on what God has done in her life since that turnaround in 2004. Now, 10 years later and making her fourth Olympics appearance, Clark has come full circle -- she's now the one that other snowboarders come to for prayer, encouragement and spiritual discussions.
She said, "There is no formula to being a professional snowboarder or to walking with God, for that matter...I can look back at my Olympic experiences, and I've seen how I've grown as an individual, how I've grown in my faith, how I've grown as an athlete. Every four years I get a little snapshot to see how I'm doing."
She's grateful for what God has done in her life.
"It's very easy in the world of competitive sports to be defined by what you do," Clark said. "I found that God's really into what's in your heart. He just wants your heart. It's been a great privilege to pursue my dreams and pursue God at the same time."
And, she has developed a sense of generosity. Four years ago, she started the Kelly Clark Foundation to help others compete in the sport that she loves so much. She said, "As a competitive athlete, sometimes you're required to prioritize yourself and think about yourself all the time...I thought it might be better if I didn't spend so much time thinking about myself. That's kind of where my inspiration came from to start the foundation."
Kelly's story is a reminder about how God meets us at the point of our need. She was despondent, ready to check out on life, it seems, but she took a step toward the Lord, and he met her there. You can see the way that He was drawing her, giving her that sense of something greater, arranging for her to hear that conversation, using the Gideon Bible in her room, and prompting her to take a few steps down the hall to ask a fellow competitor about the Lord. And, if that occasion ever arises for you or me, I would trust that we would be equipped to share the right words to lead a person to Christ.
God has a purpose for Kelly, and for each one of us. She's moved in 10 years from being the person who was desperate for God's presence in her life to someone who is now pointing others to Jesus, someone who has an international platform, who has written a book about her faith journey, and who is demonstrating a sense of generosity by having an impact on other snowboarders.
But, as she says, Kelly is not defined by what she does. She is pursuing snowboarding dreams, has competed in 4 Olympics, and just won a bronze medal, but she recognizes the true prize in life is to know Jesus and to seek to please Him - that's the most rewarding thing of all for all of us.
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