Marla Runyan was the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympic Games. Diagnosed with progressive vision loss as a child, Runyan competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and became a three-time national champion in distance running.

When Runyan was only 10 years old, she was diagnosed with Stargardt disease and failing vision. She later said, “I remember how the expectations around me just fell. Like anything I did was okay. I felt it from my parents and my teachers. That angered me. And I took that and turned it around, and I became this very competitive, ‘I’m going to show you what I can do.’ No one would have ever imagined that I was going to make an Olympic team!”

John 9 – Remain Fearless

While it’s an amazing feat for any blind person to make the Olympic team, it doesn’t compare to Jesus’ next miracle in John 9. Here, we see the implications of His identity as the Light of the world when he meets a blind man. Everything changed for the man who was made to see. However, the greatest miracle was not opening his eyes but the opening of his heart to the Savior. It cost him everything to confess Jesus as the Son of God, but he was willing to do it.

The religious rulers intimated the man born blind, who could not deny the miracle, so they pressured him to change his testimony. They wanted to discredit Jesus, so they needed the blind man to deny the miracle, but he refused to play their game. Instead, he remained fearless and resolved to speak the truth.

The Kingdom Coach and Athlete resolve not to depart from truth regardless of others’ intimidation. They hold tightly to the truth and lean on God’s power to be his or her witness in the sports world.

Journaling helps you understand and respond to the Bible. As you journal, use the acronym HEAR to Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond to what you have read in the reading plan.

Bible Memory Verse – “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” John 12:25 LSB

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