Katie Ledecky and James 1:2
What could James have been talking about when he wrote, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…” (James 1:2). Was James serious? Did he mean for us to actually rejoice when we experience trials? Our natural bent is to run from trials or get through them as quickly as possible. Certainly, we don’t feel like rejoicing. When we experience a financial setback, physical illness, or emotional trauma, we pray that God will take away the problem and get us out of the trial ASAP. We certainly see no reason to “count it all joy.” Last night at the Paris Olympics Katie Ledecky won the 1500-meter freestyle in dominating fashion. The second-place finisher was over ten seconds behind her. She set a new Olympic record (beating her own Olympic record) with a time of 15:30.02. She now has the 20 fastest times in the history of the women’s 1500-meter freestyle race. She is unbeaten in the 1500-meter and 800-meter at the World Championships and Olympics. She has won ...