A Thin Line
Less than two hours after swimming the best race of her life, she was in tears of disappointment.
You can likely relate. Perhaps it is because of having competed in athletics, or maybe due to something that occurred in your professional career, or possibly even a personal ambition or goal. Regardless of the context, you almost certainly know how thin the dividing line can be between success and disappointment. Mere milliseconds or inches—or a narrow decision that cuts for or against you—has the potential to be the difference between elation and devastation.
In this case, it was a qualifying swim meet, and our daughter had a goal of swimming a state meet qualifying time in both the 50 Free and the 50 Back. After swimming her best time ever in the 50 Free (not quite a qualifying time, but still objectively her best race in any event ever), she was brimming with confidence for the 50 Back. She was also hyper aware it was quite literally her last chance to qualify. It would take a perfectly clean race.
The first 25 yards were perfect, and the turn was good as well, but at about the 35-yard mark, her left arm clipped the lane line—and then did so again on the following stroke. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. She knew before even finishing she had come up short. The disappointment—and the tears that followed—were real.
What moment in your life does that story recall? What goal or achievement did you want so badly you could taste it? Perhaps, like our daughter, it was an athletic pursuit of the past, or maybe it is something you are still pursuing. Maybe a career goal, or a relational one. Maybe you have already tasted sweet victory in it, or maybe you also know the feeling of bitter disappointment.
It is a reality of life that the line between what we deem to be success and disappointment can be exceedingly thin.
So what are you as a Jesus follower to do in those situations? How should you handle success? How should you navigate disappointment? There is a beautiful freedom found in God’s Word that can clearly guide you no matter which side of that very thin line you currently find yourself. It’s a freedom echoed throughout scripture, but beautifully articulated in John 1:12:
“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Your worth and your identity as a Jesus follower are not determined by the milliseconds or the narrow decisions that land you on one side or the other of the thin line of the moment. In fact, in both success and disappointment, your reality, your worth, and your identity is fully encompassed in the fact that God has called you His child.
It is true when you win and when you succeed.
It is true when you lose and when you are disappointed.
You are a child of God! There is no line—thin or thick—that can separate you from God’s love (Rom. 8:38-39)!
Later that evening, after the tears had passed, I overheard a conversation between our daughter and a sibling. The sibling asked how she was feeling now. Her answer was everything:
“I’m good now. I’m a daughter of the King!”
The following article originally appeared in Thann’s “The Equipped” Weekly Newsletter. For more information on Thann’s weekly email, click here.