Give God the glory

"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness." Psalm 115:1 NLT

In a story published by KTVB7, it was reported that Chad Kempel who is from Eagle Idaho and the father of seven children, including four-year-old quintuplets, set a Guinness world record after he ran a half–marathon in two hours and 19 minutes while pushing the five quintuplets in a stroller. Kempel said he was inspired by two mothers who did three stroller records. “The quints are 4 years old now and we've had a long journey,” Kempel said. “Went through a lot of infertility, the quints were a risky pregnancy they weren’t supposed to live, so in a way, finishing something like this with Amy and the older kids at the finish line, it feels good to do this when life has been so hard... It was physically very demanding on me, but how am I gonna complain when Amy's right beside me. She did all the work; she was the one who carried them in the hospital.” When asked if he plans on running another marathon, Kempel told KTVB that right after he finished the marathon his wife asked ‘so we’re done, right?’ So as of right now, he doesn’t think he will, but his wife thinks he going to be like Tom Brady, saying he’s retired, but then does another marathon. “I love that they're going to remember this, they were so excited, they were waving like they were celebrities,” Kempel said. “I had to point out and say, ‘mom's right there, she's the one who did all the work.’”

And do you know what I love most about this story? The way Chad, who seemingly had every right to accept all the praise for crossing the finish line, twice acknowledged that it was his wife who really deserved the praise. Similarly, this 'giving the praise where the praise is due' reaction should be the mindset of every believer as well—instinctively giving all the glory to God for every good and perfect thing in life. For every win, for every positive outcome, for every blessing, and for every trial and test that the Lord turned into a testimony. After all, no matter how quickly a person makes it across the finish line, it’s God who gave them the strength, skills, and circumstances to do it. 

So let us refuse to keep the glory for ourselves my friends. After all, we don’t deserve it since we can do nothing good apart from God. Let us follow the example of the psalmist instead and say, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness.” 

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that we can do no good thing without You. Remind us too that it’s You who provides the air in our lungs, that every one of our heartbeats is a gift from You and that we have nothing of value that You did not provide. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!