Getting God is Greater than Winning Olympic Gold
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:4-9 (NIV)
I crutched my way into the stands with my husband, family, and 12,000 other track and field fans to watch the 2016 Olympic Trials finals for women’s pole vault. A dozen women would battle for the top three spots and the title of Olympian.
Three weeks before, I had jumped a lifetime best of nearly 15 feet to qualify for this meet, only to severely sprain my ankle one jump later. With full-time therapy and rehab, I limped my way out to Eugene, Oregon, to try to make Team USA. This was not the way I had wanted to show up to the Olympic Trials. I could hardly walk without pain, let alone run full speed down a runway with a 14 foot pole flinging myself into the air over a crossbar. But I was here, and so I would jump.
By the grace of God, and a few numbing injections, I was able to compete in the qualifying round, clearing my opening height. It was a literal miracle that the bar stayed up, but one cleared bar was all my ankle could give me. I finished the competition in 17th place, failing to make the final.
For two decades I had dreamed of and trained to become an Olympian. And with that final miss, I had not only failed to make the final and the Olympic team, but a huge chapter of my life had come to an abrupt close. Sitting there watching three very deserving athletes make the team was beautifully hard. Crying as they waved the American flag and embraced their coaches and family, I watched them live the thing I had always imagined for myself.
Though my heart ached that things had not gone how I had hoped, I was filled with deep gratitude for the journey. It was at the track that I’d learned so many life lessons, made lifelong friends, and even met my husband. And it was also at the track that my passion for God and His Word was etched into my very core. In order to keep my mind focused during the day in and day out of training and competing, I would memorize verses. I used a system where I would write the first letter of every word in the verse in Sharpie® marker right on my wrist so that I could easily memorize the verse.
These verses grounded me in the truth that I competed for the Lord, not for man, that God was with me wherever I went, and that He had good things for me that He’d prepared for me to do. Even though there was the grief of a dream unrealized when I hung up my spikes, having rooted myself for all those years in God’s truth, I knew deep down that my identity was not in being a pole vaulter or having the title of Olympian. My identity was in Christ.
Yet, as the days following the trials turned into weeks and then months, I found myself in uncharted territory. My Olympic dream had left a giant void, and to my surprise, the space and time that was once occupied by focused goals and purpose was filling up with anxiety. I began waking up in the middle of the night, heart racing, and my mind was overwhelmed with all sorts of lies about who I was. I was afraid of my own thoughts. More than ever I needed God’s truth. I needed the powerful words of God to fight back the lies. All those verses I memorized while I was an athlete came rushing to the rescue as I recited them day and night. And so I leaned harder into His Word.
As soon as I woke up in the morning, I read God’s Word. When I went to the store, I listened to God’s Word. And I continued to write new verses on my arm, committing them to memory. They were my lifeline. Slowly, and I mean SLOWLY, what I memorized in these verses brought peace and protection to my heart and mind, and I was lifted out of the darkness of anxiety. After a long year, He had delivered me from my fears. Not only had He graciously carried me, but I had experienced a quiet, beautiful intimacy with God that I had never known before. He was my closest Friend, my Comforter, my Help. He knew my pain and did not leave me alone in it. The Lord was so, so near to me.
Following that year, I found myself wildly passionate about God’s Word. If God spoke everything into existence—if there was nothing, and then there was everything just from Him speaking—couldn’t He also speak with power into my every situation? And what if I could help the people around me also know this power? What if I could help others dwell on what is true rather than the lies? What if I could help my sisters and brothers experience the peace of God that transcends all understanding? What if they too, could know the nearness of God through knowing His Word? If but one person could know God better, I would make it my mission to help people know His Word.
So in 2017, my sister and I launched Dwell Differently to help people discover the same strength I found in Scripture. That same system (using the first letter of every word in a verse to help you memorize it) that I used with the Sharpie® marker on my wrist has now helped tens of thousands of brothers, sisters, grandparents, and children memorize and meditate on God’s Word.
As the 2024 Olympic Games are set to begin, I reflect back on my time as an athlete, and my mind does not linger long on what didn’t happen for me. I don’t even look back on that season of anxiety that followed the trials with questions. I look back and I see how God used all of my story—the success, the failure, the pain of anxiety—to give me a treasure greater than gold: Himself. Today, whether you are training for a goal like the Olympics, struggling with anxiety, or longing to know your purpose, be encouraged that God is near. His Word has power to bring truth, light, and life into your every situation and circumstance. Get in His Word. Memorize it, meditate on it, and watch how He will meet you.
ABOUT VERA SCHMITZ
Vera Schmitz is the cofounder and chief creative officer at Dwell Differently. Vera cohosts the Dwell Differently podcast and creates smart, beautiful designs to help people memorize Bible verses. Learn more about her new Bible study, Dwell on These Things, that she co-wrote with her sister Natalie Abbott at lifeway.com/dwell.
