Sunday 11th August 2024
It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High,
proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.
For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
Psalm 92:1-4 (NIV)
It is good to praise the LORD
The Olympics in Paris will shortly be drawing to a close for another year. It has been a festival of entertainment – perhaps you like me have found yourself drawn to sports you never knew existed or that you liked before – Kite Sailing, Skateboarding, Surfing all spring to mind.
One notable feature of the Games this year has been a couple of high profile members of Team GB speaking openly about their Christian faith (e.g. Adam Peaty in the swimming).
Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix, the daughter of TV personality Fred Sirieix, has been performing in the diving (winning a bronze medal with her diving partner Lois Toulson in the women’s synchronized 10m platform) and has been very open about her ongoing battles with mental health as well as her faith in God.
After winning her bronze medal she said this: “When we do synchro we always pray before we compete altogether, me, Lois and our coaches. And I really do think that bringing God into the competition takes that pressure, that stress away, and I give God all the glory, because yesterday I was studying “be strong and courageous” and that’s all I wanted to be today, I didn’t want to be shy, I didn’t want to leave anything, I just wanted to throw it all and give it all to God.”
There is an interesting insight into her life in this interview with Stylistmagazine: https://www.stylist.co.uk/fitness-health/andrea-spendolini-sirieix-diving-paris-2024/901828
At one point in the same interview, she shared: “I always like to end my day with a Bible study and prayer, ensuring that my focus before I go to bed is God. God’s my focus when I wake up too; my faith bookends my day. It helps me remember that there are bigger things than competition and allows me to stay humble – whatever happens, it’s just another day. I want to do the best that I can with the energy and the knowledge that I have.”
I feel challenged – how quickly do I ‘give God all the glory’ for the things he’s done in my life? Does my faith bookend my day in the same way?
Lord, it is as the Psalmist says, ‘good’ to praise you – help me to give you the praise that is rightly yours as I see you at work in my life each day. Amen
With love in Christ,
Ben Wells (Associate Minister)