Youth Devotional - Blade Runner

Youth Devotional - Blade
Runner
God reveals his strength in our weakness
www.CreativeYouthIdeas.com

The Olympic Games celebrates the athlete at their best. It is the
pinnacle of human sporting achievement and you’re likely to
see every Olympian striving to give their most perfect
performances, many after years of challenging training. But
today, our focus shifts to one particular athlete that has caught
our attention. One that isn’t quite so picture perfect. We want
to introduce you to…

The Blade Runner
South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius, also known as the “Blade
Runner,” was born in 1986 in Johannesburg.
Oscar is like most runners competing in the 2012 London
Olympic games. There’s only one difference. He has no legs. Born
with a congenital absence of the calf bone in both legs, he had to
have them amputated between the ankle and knee at the age of
11 months.

Ironically, this record breaking Paralympian’s only obstacle is
the controversy he faces over his prosthetic limbs, as some
critics have claimed gives him an advantage over able-
bodied athletes.

In 2007 the International Association of Athletics Federations
conducted research on Oscar’s prosthetic legs and found that it
gave him certain advantages against able-bodied athletes. They
claimed his prosthetics were lighter and had more “spring” than
normal legs. Although he won the appeal, he did not qualify for
the 2008 Beijing Olympics. However, he performed exceptionally
well at the 2008 Summer Paralympics: he won gold in the 100m,
200m, and 400m events, completing the 400m race in a world-
record time of 47.49 seconds

In 2012, he will be competing in the 400-m and the 4 x 400m
relay events, being the first double amputee runner at the
Olympic games. In response to being admitted to the Olympic
team, Oscar said, “Today is truly on of the proudest days of my
life. To have been selected to represent Team South Africa at the
London 2012 Olympic Games… is a real honor and I am pleased
that years of hard work, determination and sacrifice have all
come together.”

Oscar’s story of determination and perseverance in spite of his
condition inspires us. He wasn’t born perfect, he had his struggles, but
he chose not to dwell on the things he could not do, but kept his focus
on that he could accomplish.
We have all been called to some great purpose. And there are times
we may feel our past experiences, our failures, our lack of spiritual
maturity, our lack of talent or skill “disqualify” us from partnering with
God to fulfill that purpose. We feel “handicapped” and inadequate;
that our weaknesses far outweigh our strengths.

Take It to the Next Level
Paul was a spiritual giant in his own right. He was an apostle, much of
the New Testament are his inspired writings. He had performed
numerous miracles in the name of Jesus, he had led thousands to
God. But he had a “thorn in his flesh”. The Bible never explains to us
exactly what it is in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, but it’s often implied to be a
physical weakness. He asked God to remove it. Not once, but three
times. God responded to him, pretty much the same way He refers to
our own weaknesses, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is
made perfect in weakness.”

Just like Oscar whose disability strangely perceived to give him
advantages over other able-bodied runners, God’s power is
perfected in us, not “in spite of,” but “because of” our weaknesses.
Paul’s response? “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about
my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why,
for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in
persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
We COULD ask God to remove our weaknesses. Why not? He has
the power to do it doesn’t He?

The funny thing is, if God really did that, what’s going to stop
us from depending on our own abilities, on our own strength?
What’s going to stop us in boasting about what WE have
accomplished?
“Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got
called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the
best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-
society families.

Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that
the culture overlooks and exploits and abuses, chose these
“nobodies” to expose the hollow pretensions of the “some
bodies”? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with
blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have right
thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start comes from
God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the saying, “If
you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.” 1 Cor 26:31
(MSG)

So, let’s not go around tooting our own horns. Let’s
not hide behind our weaknesses any longer. Let us
trumpet out loud that all we have comes from God.
The weak, the insecure, the inadequate, we are
everything God made us to be. Victorious in our
weaknesses, triumphant because of His grace
working through us that comes through our
relationship with Jesus Christ.

Don’t feel like you’re worthless before God – you actually are!
BUT our worth doesn’t come from what you’ve done, what you
do, or what you will accomplish. Your worth comes because
the creator of the universe chose YOU. Chose to die for YOU.
Chose to work through YOU as His instrument on this earth.
Chose YOU to be His heir and spend eternity with. That’s
exactly how much YOU are worth.
“We are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Rom 8:37b (NIV)

Scriptures Verses for Youth Bible Study
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my
power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all
the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power
may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in
weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

1 Cor 26:31 (MSG)
“Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got
called into this life. I don’t see many of “the brightest and the
best” among you, not many influential, not many from high-
society families. Isn’t it obvious that God deliberately chose
men and women that the culture overlooks and exploits and
abuses, chose these “nobodies” to expose the hollow
pretensions of the “some bodies”?

That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with
blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have
right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start
comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That’s why we have the
saying, “If you’re going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God.”

Romans 8:35, 37-39 (NIV)
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or
hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or
sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither
death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the
present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate
us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Questions for Youth Discussion
[Teacher's Note: We often learn more about a person's true character
through their weaknesses rather than their strengths. The power that
youth would like to have often reveals an area where they are feeling
weak.]
Who is your favorite superhero? Why? What is that superhero’s
weakness? Why is it that every superhero has a weakness? If you
could have one supernatural power, what would it be? Why?

• Why is it that God allows weakness in our lives?
• Who’s your favorite Athlete? Why?
• As a society we are more likely to look up to weakness than
strength. Why?
• What are some of the things that our society defines as a
strength? As a weakness?
• In what ways have you seen a weakness become a strength?
• Why are youth more likely to boast of strengths rather than
weaknesses?
• How does Paul’s view of power and weakness differ from
that of the world?

• What are some of the weaknesses that youth have to deal with?
• What understanding, or insights have you learned from your own
experiences regarding weaknesses and struggles?
• How have you seen God work in your own life during times of
weakness?
• How have you seen God work through you in times of weakness?
• In what experiences have you seen God turn a weakness into a
strength?

Application to the Lives of Youth
• In what areas of your life are you more likely to rely on your
strength rather than God’s strength?
• What weaknesses, struggles, or constraints in your life might
God be able to use?
• What is an area where you will commit to trust God this
week, even though you might feel weak or inadequate in that
area? What step of faith will you take in spite of your
perceived weakness?

Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible
Study Series with an Olympic Theme?
What is salvation all about? What does it
mean to be saved? This sports themed
Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the
Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of
sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle),
purity (white background), spiritual growth
(green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and
(Baptism) blue circle.
Creative Youth Ideas
Go for the Gold
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”
www.creativeyouthideas.com/goforthegold.html

Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series
on ”Running the Christian Race”?
The race as a metaphor for the Christian
life is used in several places in the Bible.
This series is a great follow up for new
Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of
our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This
Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a
sports theme and is great for athletes as
well as a tie in to the youth Olympic
Games.
Creative Youth Ideas
Destined to Win
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”
www.creativeyouthideas.com/destinedtowin.html

Youth Devotional - Blade Runner

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Youth Devotional - Blade Runner