Where Is Your Faith
“The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”” – Luke 8:24-25
During the 2004 Olympics, Matt Emmons represented the United States in the three-position, fifty-meter rifle event, and he was dominating the competition as he advanced to the final shot of his signature event.
Sportswriter Rick Reilly said it like this: With one shot to go in Athens, Emmons was on his way to a laughter of a win. In fact, all he had to do was hit the target. It’d be like telling Picasso all he had to do was hit the canvas. In preparation for the shot, Emmons pressed his cheek against the rifle’s stock and sighted down the barrel through the scope. He took a breath, let it out, and squeezed the trigger. The sound of the gun firing was unmistakable.
What happened next was shocking. When you watch the sport of rifle shooting, a monitor focused on the target is always on one of the corners of the TV screen. When a competitor takes a shot, that monitor almost immediately signals which part of the target was hit, and then a score is generated based on the quality of the shot.
When Emmons lowered his weapon, he immediately looked to see where his bullet had struck the target. But there was no mark. And there was no score. Confused, he began talking with the judges, indicating he believed he’d hit the target. Why was there no score? Eventually, the lead judge picked up a microphone to explain. He announced that Emmons’s score was zero because of a “cross shot.”
The crowd gasped! Emmons lowered his head, obviously unable to believe what had happened. A cross shot is when a shooter hits a target that’s not the one he’s supposed to be shooting at. At some point while going through his pre-shot routine, Matt had zeroed in on the target next to his. His zero score not only lost him the gold medal; he fell out of medal contention completely.
Matt Emmons’s story provides a great lesson: always be sure you’re aiming at Jesus.
No matter what the circumstance, keep your faith in Christ.
“Faith is to believe what we cannot see, and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.” – Augustine
“”‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”” – Mark 9:23