gideon – The Faith Cafe

Posted on April 15, 2024March 19, 2024 by Lori Cartmell

When the Underdog Becomes Top Dog

Don’t you love it when an underdog turns the tables?

We’ve all cheered at movies in which the little guy triumphs over impossible odds and wins the day.

Part of what makes these stories attractive is the confidence the underdog displays in the face of adverse circumstances. He or she often thinks that it’s the other guy who’s at a disadvantage.

I’m reminded of a classic headline from a British newspaper, possibly from the early 1930s (and possibly apocryphal). The English Channel was blanketed with thick fog, making ship travel dangerous. The witty headline read:

“Fog in Channel: Continent Isolated.”

What makes this funny is that surely it was the island of Great Britain that was isolated by the dense fog, not Continental Europe!

You’ve got to admire this type of self-assurance.

I think this the type of attitude God wants us to display, but to focus it on faith and trust in Him. He wants us to believe that with Him on our side, the one who comes against is the one who’s isolated and on the ropes.

Consider the story of David and Goliath in the Bible…

Posted on July 17, 2023June 23, 2023 by Lori Cartmell

Break Your Four-Minute Mile

Marathoner Eliud Kipchoge
Photo by Denis Barthel on Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 International

A few years ago in Vienna, Kenyan Olympic champion Eluid Kipchoge made history.

He became the first person to run a marathon in under two hours, a feat that had long seemed impossible.

After running the 26.2 mile course in one hour, 59 minutes and 40 seconds, Kipchoge drew comparisons to Sir Roger Bannister. Bannister was the Briton who in 1954 became the first person to run one mile in under four minutes, an achievement also once thought to be unattainable.

Kipchoge said something very significant after his race: “I expect more people all over the world to run under two hours after today.”

Why did he say that?

Because Kipchoge knew that a funny thing had happened after Bannister’s victory: other people began breaking the four-minute mile as well.

They suddenly saw that it was possible, and were inspired to believe that if Bannister could do it, so could they. The barrier he broke for people was just as much a mental one as a physical one.

Do you have a “four-minute mile” in your life? Are there things you would like to achieve, but you feel they’re impossible?

Take courage, because God specializes in breaking barriers!

Posted on June 9, 2022April 28, 2022 by Lori Cartmell

God Sees You In Infrared

Did you know that some birds and bees can see things that are completely invisible to us? They’re able to see in infrared, just beyond the wavelengths of the visible light spectrum that human eyes can detect.

What looks to us like a regular pink flower might resemble a helicopter landing pad to a bee. Where we see only the uniform expanse of one colour, the bee may see a target-shaped design involving different colours. The bee’s infrared vision allows it to home in on the most nectar-rich part of the flower.

The world looks completely different when you can see in infrared.

I sometimes think that God sees us in “infrared.” He can see things in us that are invisible to others, and even to ourselves.

Posted on May 18, 2020 by Lori Cartmell · 2 Comments

God Sees You in Infrared

Bee on cosmos flower
Photo by Veronica H. on Pixabay

What looks to us like a regular pink flower might resemble a helicopter landing pad to a bee. Where we see only the uniform expanse of one colour, the bee may see a target-shaped design of several differently coloured concentric circles. The bee’s infrared vision allows it to home in on the most nectar-rich part of the flower.

The world looks completely different when you can see in infrared.

I sometimes think that God sees us in “infrared.” He can see things in us that are invisible to others, and even to ourselves.