‘He Gives Grace for Every Hurdle’: Olympian Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Puts Her Faith in God
By Movieguide® Contributor
Multi-time Olympic gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is crediting God for her performance as a runner.
“He gives grace for every hurdle ⚡️ onto the next…” McLaughlin-Levrone said Wednesday in an Instagram post with photos of her on the track.
McLaughlin-Levrone previously strayed from God. She put her worth in who loved her and how well she performed as a runner. Eventually, she realized that her identity needed to lie in Christ.
“I convinced myself that I was put on this earth to win. And in order to receive love and respect from others, I had to finish first. If I didn’t, what good was I?” she said.
“[But with] Christ, being able to redirect that to him — that being the center and the focus of my identity…has helped everything else in my life to fall into place as it should be, which has been a blessing that’s helped on and off the track,” the runner told TODAY earlier this year.
She first became an Olympian at the age of 16. In her career as a runner and her journey back to Christ, she “experienced profound grace,” “freedom” and “hope.”
Movieguide® recently reported on the Olympian’s faith:
“He has experienced our pains. Our losses, our betrayals, our hardships, and our sufferings,” she began. “Having lived all these troubles and more, Jesus understands. He has grace for us, having stood against the same trials and more.”
She referenced Hebrews 4:14-16, which reads:
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
“Yet it doesn’t stop with all of the negative qualities of life,” she continued. “Though He can empathize with us on our grief, the beauty of His life is that faith replaces it with joy. He offers peace, healing, comfort, and hope. No matter the struggle, or the fight.”
Mclaughin-Levrone, who’s the world record holder in the 400m hurdles and has the second-fastest open 400m at 48.74, is currently nearing the end of her Olympic trials competitions.
She will compete in the women’s 400m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting on Sunday before (God willing) heading to Paris for the Summer Olympics in late July.
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