By Kristen Entwistle

Watching the Olympics this week has been a lot of fun.  I love watching Michael Phelps swim butterfly – it’s just so beautiful.  Watching Katie Ledecky absolutely crush the competition and prove that she is the best distance swimmer in the world.  Watching April Ross and Kerri Walsh-Jennings dominate in the sand.  Watching the American women’s gymnastics team make history.  Watching Usain Bolt run – he makes it look so easy.

It’s amazing what these athletes are able to accomplish.  How good they are at what they do.  It makes me want to better – watching them.  It makes me want to swim faster, run faster, train harder, be stronger.  And it also makes me feel a bit disappointed with myself – that I’m not that good.  That I don’t swim that fast, run that fast, or can even do a handstand.

But as I keep watching this year’s Olympic games, I’m remembering that it’s not about how good I am compared to everyone else – whether in sports or in life.  It’s not about how fast I am compared to Katie Ledecky, or how much money I make compared to my former grad school colleagues, or how my children behave compared to others, or how many books I sell or how many Facebook followers I have.  It’s not about that.  At all.

I may not be an Olympian, but I am still loved by the God of the Universe.

I may not make the most money possible, but God provides.

I may not sell many books or have 300,000 Facebook followers, but I do what I do for the glory of God, not for the recognition of people.

God has given me unique talents and gifts, and those gifts don’t make me an Olympian or a best-selling author, or the richest person. It makes me…well, me.  And I am a child of God, loved beyond measure, forgiven and free.

By Kristen Entwistle

I rarely hear a new song on the Christian radio station that I listen to in the car.  It’s not that there aren’t new songs, but that there’s a pretty solid playlist that they cycle through.  But yesterday, I heard a new song – at least, new to me.

I don’t think I’m the only one who has been through difficult circumstances or been disappointed by life’s waves.  When things are going well and you get blindsided – by unforseen heartbreak, an unexpected diagnosis, the death of a loved one, the loss of an unborn child, rejection from a potential job, personal rejection by a friend – the list could go on and on.

When life’s waves hit me and knock me over, it’s just not that simple – to tell my heart to beat again.  But what I love is that this song doesn’t say is that I have to tell my heart to beat again right now.  Healing takes time.  But healing also takes a beating heart.

Let every heartbreak
And every scar
Be a picture that reminds you
Who has carried you this far
‘Cause love sees farther than you ever could
In this moment heaven’s working
Everything for your good

Tell your heart to beat again
Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away
Step into the light of grace
Yesterday’s a closing door
You don’t live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you’ve been
And tell your heart to beat again

By Kristen Entwistle

The next two heroes that we come to in Hebrews 11 may be less familiar to you and me. They aren’t really stories that you’ll find in the children’s picture Bibles on your kids’ shelves, but the writer of Hebrews commends them for their faith.  Gideon’s and Barak’s stories both start the same way – with the Israelites again doing evil in the eyes of the Lord (Judges 4:1, 6:1).  It’s a fairly common occurrence in the Old Testament, actually. The Lord gives the Israelites chance after chance after chance to follow His law, but they keep messing it up – by worshipping other gods and disobeying direct commandments from God.

Take a look with me today, and see how these two men acted in the face of adversity, and why they were commended for their faith.

Download Chapter 10 now!