.

The just finished Olympics were filled with great stories, great achievements and great personal efforts. Of course everyone focuses on the gold medal winners; of those Michael Phelps was recognized far and wide for his record eight gold medals. He deserves that recognition because indeed it was a great achievement; one probably never to be bettered and more than likely not repeated.

Of the eight gold medals five of them were for individual events and three were relays, meaning three other people helped him win three of those gold medals. Quick name me one of those three people? Maybe you could because the memomory for many of you is less than two weeks old. My guess is that if I was to ask that question in six months almost no one would be able to answer it. Too bad but no surprise, life is filled with the names we forget, people who are critical to our success that others never see.

In just a matter of time people will forget the name of Jason Lezak, though without him Michael Phelps would have won just seven gold medals and one silver. Jason was the oldest man in the pool for the Americans in their historic victory in the 4 by 100 relay. It was in this race that he not Phelps made the greatest impact.

When he entered the pool he was trailing a great swimmer from France Alan Bernard, as he made the final turn he was almost a full body length behind. Jason said, “I never lost hope.” Indeed he did not, swimming the fastest relay leg in history at 46.06 and winning the race by a fingertip, eight one-hundredths of a second.

Jason a veteran of three Olympics knew what it was like to loose in this relay having lost in his two previous attempts in Sydney and in Athens. He was determined not to allow that to happen in Beijing. His determination brought home the gold not only for him but for his three teammates.

Yet in weeks the general public will see Phelps and forget Lezak. Smart people know this; the great races are not won without the support people behind you. Most of these people are names that others forget or never know.

Who is your Lezak? Who is it that has gone before you to make your race (life) easier? They may have suffered from losses and instead of quieting they have learned from their loss and are sharing their experience with you to make you better. They are the kind of people who never loose hope. Let me assure you if you are a person of any kind of substance, you have a Lezak in your life, be glad you do and by the way thank God they are.

Something about Lazek’s you need to know is that they rarely care about themselves. They are more than willing to share the victory with you or better yet to just let you bask in the glow while knowing they helped. They love to see others do well. They want you to succeed and are truly interested in you as a person. They will go the extra mile to make sure your reach your potential.

God knows what you need; at times you need someone to push you when you are ready to quit, when you’re tired, no problem God has someone in mind. Then there are those moments of failure, you need someone to love you, to pick you up and send you back into the battle with confidence, that’s no problem for God he has someone ready to go. Perhaps you have drifted from the plan and are in danger of loosing it all, you need someone to tell it to you straight, no problem God has that handled. God is in the business of helping us succeed He knows who we need and He has the Jason Lazek’s ready to lead us to ultimate victory.

Let’s keep in mind when we stand on the podium; maybe we graduate from college, get a promotion, start a business or achieve a certain position of prominence. Let us remember that we did not get to that spot on our own. Somewhere back there was someone giving all they had, focusing on the goal, never losing hope and always pushing us forward.

The portion of the race that Lazek swam is called the anchor leg, how fitting. Let us remember without the Lazek’s of life there is no gold.

Bonus thought: Even though we don’t all win the gold, most all of us can help others achieve theirs. Each of us has a place in God’s plan, let us give our best to be in the middle of His will, no matter if it takes us to the podium or has us standing in the background. The world might forget, God will never, after all He is the one who designed your gifts and set you in the right place.

• Perhaps there is a Jason Lazek out there in your life, someone who lifted you up and helped you alone the way, someone who stood behind the scenes while your celebrated a great victory.Maybe a phone call is in order, or a card just to say thanks. It will be meaningful to you and special to them.

Scripture: Check out Timothy: Philippians 2:19-22, “I plan (according to Jesus’ plan) to send Timothy to you very soon so he can bring back all the news of you he can gather. Oh, how that will do my heart good! I have no one quite like Timothy. He is loyal, and genuinely concerned for you. Most people around here are looking out for themselves, with little concerns for the things of Jesus. But you know yourselves that Timothy’s the real thing. He’s been a devoted son to me as together we’ve delivered the Message.

The Message

Prayer: Dear Lord, we thank you that you send support people in our life that love you and care for us. Help us to be grateful, help us to be support people to those we come in contact with. Help us to see others first while living for you. We ask these things in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.