Day 10 Becoming a Champion of Faith!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

In 1977 I remember the day we got a call telling us that our family friend Kathy Miller, age 13, had been hit by a car. The emotions were overwhelming as we tried to wrap our minds around the reality of this tragedy! How could this happen? Kathy was an honor student and a track and field athlete who would never walk into the lanes of traffic on a busy street! As the details unfolded we learned that Kathy did in fact, walk into the street and was hit by a speeding car, and now she was in critical condition struggling for her life!

Kathy suffered extensive physical injuries as well as brain damage. The doctors didn’t give much hope for recovery because the damage to her brain was so extensive. Their reports never thwarted the prayer warriors who were standing together in faith, believing for a miracle!

I remember the day we got the call telling us that a miracle had indeed taken place! After 10 weeks in a coma Kathy woke up! She was unable to talk, walk, read, or write. We all knew it would be a long journey of recovery but at least she was awake. Though she still had a battle ahead of her she was going to be released from the hospital in a few weeks. Our emotions of joy overwhelmed us and we couldn’t wait until the day we got to see her!

Not too long after she was released we were invited over to the Miller house to visit with Kathy. I must say I was shocked when I saw her because the beautiful, bright eyed, happy teenager I used to know was not the person I saw that day. But as I was sitting there with Kathy I discovered a truth about life I had never known before. An overcoming spirit is more beautiful than any outward appearance, and a winning attitude, is far more inspiring than words eloquently spoken! And Kathy had both!

Due to the trauma on the brain she had to learn everything again, including how to eat. I remember the first time she ate popsicles and we gazed at the beauty of that event as if we were watching someone walk onto the platform to receive a gold medal in the Olympics! With each new challenge she faced and overcame, she proved the doctors wrong! She worked very hard through torturous hours of physical therapy, but she never gave up!

As a track athlete Kathy had known the exhilaration that comes from winning! But now she wasn’t training for an opportunity to win a trophy, she was training for an opportunity to get movement back in her limbs, especially the leg that had been mutilated in the accident. She spent 8 long months in physical therapy believing she would one day compete again.

The dedication paid off and shortly after that she entered a 6-mile race and she completed it. Her story was so inspiring that it was made into a television movie in 1981, called, “The Miracle of Kathy Miller.” This one race was just the beginning for Kathy as she went on to become a world champion and was named “The World’s Most Courageous Athlete” and was given England’s Victoria award.

Though most of us will never have to go through what Kathy went through, we still face trials in life that leave us feeling helpless and damaged. Some of them are so crippling that we never think we can recover. I want to assure you that you can do all things through Jesus Christ when He is your source of strength, just like Kathy did! You can overcome and triumph when your eyes are fixed on Jesus Christ and when you daily exercise your faith!

No matter what you are struggling with or how much pain you are in, you can become a champion of faith! In order for Kathy to become a champion she had to do the hard work of exercising the very limbs that caused her the most pain! And in order for you to become a champion of faith, you too, need to exercise your faith in the very areas you are experiencing the most pain. When you do this you will build supernatural muscles of strength that will give you the ability to become a champion in life!

Prayer: I praise you for giving me the strength through my relationship with you to overcome the tragedies of life! I praise you for giving me the measure of faith to become a champion! I thank you for equipping me with the ability to face my pain and to work through it so that I can testify of your power to perform a miracle in me! I choose to believe that I will become a champion of faith! Amen.