Bible Lessons For Youth - Florence Chadwick: Focused on the Goal

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Bible Lessons
For Youth -
Florence
Chadwick:
Focused on
the Goal

This coming 4th of July, we want
to remember Florence Chadwick
and celebrate her determination
some 60 years before. It wasn’t
the day of her greatest triumph,
it wasn’t her most glorious
moment. It was the time of her
greatest defeat. It was also the
time she decided never to give
up ever again. As we celebrate
Independence Day, let us also
remember our independence
from a life of sin and to never
lose sight of Jesus, the author
and perfecter of our faith.

Focused on the Goal
Her goal was the California
coastline a 34 km swim from
Catalina Island. It was no more
distant than the width of the
English Channel, a goal she had
already conquered as the first
woman to swim it from both
directions. Although she was a
seasoned long-distance
swimmer with incredible
stamina, she trained arduously
to prepare herself to achieve
her goal.

July 4th, 1952
Millions watched on national
television, as 34 year old Florence
Chadwick began her swim. The
water was icy cold; the fog so
thick she could hardly see the
support boats alongside her. As
the hours passed, she was
repeatedly stung by jellyfish.
Sharks had to be driven away with
rifles. Yet she pressed on,
determined to achieve her goal.

15 hours later
Numbed with the cold, she was
ready to give up. Her mother
and her trainer were in a boat
at her side. “Florence. You are
almost there. Don’t give up
now.” Encouraged by her
mother’s admonition, she
continued to swim.

Failure
Fifteen hours and fifty minutes after
she began her swim, the support team
reluctantly agreed to pull Florence
from the water. Several hours later,
after she warmed up, she realized she
had given up only a few hundred
meters from her goal! If she had
continued just a little while longer, the
waves would have carried her to the
beach. “If I could have just seen the
land for myself, I would have made
it!”. She told reporters it was not the
sharks, the fatigue, or even the cold
water that defeated her. She had been
defeated by the fog alone. It had
obscured her goal and blinded her
reason, her eyes and her heart.

Never give in to defeat.
1952 was the only time Florence
Chadwick ever quit. Two months
later she swam that same
channel. The water was still ice
cold and still inhabited with
sharks. Once again fog obscured
her view. But this time she
pressed on, BELIEVING that
somewhere beyond that fog, her
goal would be reached. Not only
was she the first woman to swim
the Catalina Channel, but she
beat the men’s record by two
hours!

Take It to the Next Level
Lessons to be learnt
The Journey
In every race there are stages. In
the beginning there is anticipation,
excitement, eagerness to get
started. Adrenaline and energy are
high. Then there is the routine. A
pace is set. Things proceed as
expected. Practiced experience,
skill, and training prevail. Then
there is the struggle, the time when
you hit the proverbial wall, when
there is the urge to quit and only
discipline and tenacity carry you
through. Finally there is the finish.

The moment when the goal is within
your sight and grasp, that last rush,
that knowing that the end is near if
you just press on a little bit more.
And ultimately, there is the joy, the
satisfaction that comes when you
have completed that which you set
out to do. The same is true of our
spiritual lives. The Christian life is a
journey. We’ve each been called to a
journey “And let us run with
endurance the race that God has SET
BEFORE US” (Hebrews 12:1) And
what do you do when you’ve lost
your direction, when the journey is
confusing? “Let us fix our eyes on
Jesus, the author and perfecter of
our faith” (Hebrews 12:2)

Training
Training is essential to success.
Training is not a single event,
completed and done. Training is not
something done once-in-a-while,
when time allows. And training
certainly isn’t something that is only
done when you feel like it. Talk to
any successful athlete in any sport
and they will tell you of their
discipline of training to reach “a
goal”. Goals are a key aspect of
training. Training always has a goal,
an objective in mind. And
depending on that goal, your
training will be different. Swimmer,
runners, and various athletes train
differently.

Each needs a different set of
muscles, a different set of skills.
Consistent training builds the
muscles, the stamina, the skills to
reach the goal ahead. “For physical
training is of some value, but
godliness has value for all things,
holding promise for both the
present life and the life to come.” (1
Timothy 4:8; See also 1 Corinthians
9:24-27) And what do we do when
our discipline is lacking? When the
training has been neglected? When
we simply don’t feel like it? “Let us
fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith”

Purpose
We each have a goal. Even Christ had
a goal set before him and a journey
to get there. That purpose for us is to
bring glory to God. It is to do what he
created us to do. We are each here
for a reason. We each have a place in
God’s divine scheme of things. “For
you created my inmost being; you
knit me together in my mothers
womb. I praise you because I am
fearfully and wonderfully made; your
works are wonderful, I know that full
well. My frame was not hidden from
you when I was made in the secret
place, when I was woven together in
the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were
written in your book before one
of them came to be.” (Psalm
139:13-16) What do we do when
we have lost our purpose? Or
never found it in the first place?
When we are clueless and lost?
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the
author and perfecter of our faith”

Endurance
Endurance comes only when you’re
willing to press on through the
routine, the struggles, the urge to
give up, and the pain knowing that
at the end there will be joy. It’s a
choice to not merely start, but to
finish. It is something that is
developed by constantly pushing
your limits. “Run in such a way to
get the prize I train my body and
make it my slave” (1 Corinthians
9:24-27) What do we do when we it
seems that we simply cannot go on?
When our strength is failing? “Let us
fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith”

Focus
It’s not enough to know that life is
a journey toward a goal, to fulfill a
purpose. It’s easy to get distracted,
to give up, to lose the will to move
ahead. We must look to Jesus,
hear His words of encouragement,
and follow in his footsteps. The
likelihood of failure is great when
we lose sight of Jesus. When the
risks, the dangers, the people
around us cloud our view, what do
we do? “Let us fix our eyes on
Jesus, the author and perfecter of
our faith”

Failure
All of us find ourselves in situations in
life where we seem to be in over our
heads, when we’re being tested or
tried beyond our capabilities, where
we’re overwhelmed, where we don’t
think we can do it, when we feel like
we can’t go on. Whether it’s a
relationship, a course in school, a job,
a health issue, overcoming a fear, or
recovering from a mistake/ failure,
God is there with you in your
situation. We all go through times
when things seem beyond our ability
to cope, when we have been doing
the best that we can, but it just
doesn’t seem like it will be good
enough and we are afraid of
drowning.

There’s solid ground ahead. The
Rock of Ages will be there for you
to stand upon. Failure is not the
end. It’s an opportunity to begin
again with greater clarity, with
more experience, with renewed
determination to finish the course.
“He who has begun a good work in
you will complete it until the day
of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6b
NAS) How do we go on? Where do
we find the endurance to stay on
the course set before us? “Keeping
our eyes on Jesus, on whom our
faith depends from start to finish.”

Witnesses
We are not alone. Crowds of winners,
of finishers, have gone on before us
and showed us the way. (Hebrews
12:1) There are people alongside, with
you to support you now. There will be
others to follow behind you. Press on
for all of them. Don’t let them down.
Set the pace for others to follow so
that you can say as Paul said, “Imitate
me as I imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians
4:16, 1 Corinthians 11:1) Most
importantly, press on for Christ. “I
press on toward the goal to win the
prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 3:14) How can we be a
testimony to those around us?
“Keeping your eyes on Jesus, on whom
our faith depends from start to finish.

Applying it to life
• What is God’s purpose for
your life? What is your goal?
How can you find it?
• Where are you in your
Christian journey?
• To what purpose are you
training? What training do you
need? How will you get it?
• Have you lost sight of your
goal?
• Have you failed, been
distracted, given up?

• How can you start again,
resting in Christ’s grace, and
depending on his guidance
and strength?
• How can you stay focused on
God’s calling for your life?
• Find someone who has gone
before you to be a guide. Find
someone to press on
alongside you, to be
accountability partners in your
journey. Reach out to
someone you can guide, that
you can encourage and
support in their own journey
of faith.

Scripture Reference
“Let us fix our eyes on
Jesus, the author and
perfecter of our faith” -
Hebrews 12:2

Creative Youth Ideas
Go for the Gold
Need an evangelistic Youth Camp/ Bible
Study Series with an Olympic Theme?
What is salvation all about? What does it
mean to be saved? This sports themed
Bible Study / Camp Curriculum uses the
Olympic Flag to introduce the concepts of
sin (black circle), forgiveness (red circle),
purity (white background), spiritual growth
(green circle), heaven (Yellow Circle) and
(Baptism) blue circle.
-> Tell me about “Go for the Gold”
www.creativeyouthideas.com/goforthegold.html

Creative Youth Ideas
Destined to Win
Need a Youth Camp/ Bible Study Series
on ”Running the Christian Race”?
The race as a metaphor for the Christian
life is used in several places in the Bible.
This series is a great follow up for new
Christians or to re-emphasize the basics of
our spiritual Journey in the Faith. This
Bible Study / Camp Curriculum has a
sports theme and is great for athletes as
well as a tie in to the youth Olympic
Games.
->Tell me about “Destined to Win”
www.creativeyouthideas.com/destinedtowin.html

Bible Lessons For Youth - Florence Chadwick: Focused on the Goal

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Bible Lessons For Youth - Florence Chadwick: Focused on the Goal