Possibility
Luke 18:27 And he said, The things which are impossible with men are
possible with God.
True story! In 1940, a large and wonderful Christian family, the
Rudolph's, announced the birth of their 20th baby! Though the baby was not
expected to live, having been born prematurely and with polio, she defied all
odds. She did live, but by the time she was four she had suffered polio,
pneumonia and scarlet fever. This little girl was badly crippled with hardly
any use of her left leg. While her brothers and sisters enjoyed running and
playing outside, she was left confined to braces.
"Will I ever be able to run and play like the other
children?" she asked her parents. "Honey, you only have to believe,"
they responded. "If you believe, God will make it happen." And she
did! Now and again, she would practice walking without her braces with the aid
of her siblings. On her twelfth birthday, she surprised her parents and doctors
by removing her braces and walking around the doctor's office unassisted. She
never wore braces again.
Her next goal was to play basketball. The coach only agreed to
let her play as a means of getting her older sister on the team. She was given
an outdated uniform, but she was allowed to work out with the other players.
One day she approached the coach and promised him if he would give her an extra
ten minutes of coaching each day, she would give him a world class athlete. He
laughed, but seeing she was serious, half-heartedly agreed. Before long her
determination paid off. She became one of the team's best players.
Her team went to the state basketball championships. One of the
referees noticed her exceptional ability. He asked if she had ever run track.
She hadn't. He encouraged her to try it. So after the basketball season she
went out for track. She began winning races and earned a berth in the state
championships.
At the age of 16, she was one of the best young runners in the
country. She went to the Olympics in Australia and won a bronze medal for
anchoring the 400-meter relay team. Four years later in Rome she won the
100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash and anchored the winning 400-meter relay
team -- all in world-record times. She received the prestigious Sullivan Award
as the most outstanding amateur athlete in America.
This is the amazing story of Wilma Rudolph, an Olympic gold
medalist, who believed the promises of God.
We must never allow our circumstances to dictate what we can
accomplish or who we can become! Let's believe the promises of God for our
lives and be encouraged to move forward for him! All things are possible to
them that believe!