Michael Phelps has gotten a lot of attention at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. I’ve been a Michael Phelps fan for a long time, but I have noticed something different about him this year. I know the media and most everyone else has, too. It seems as if Phelps is a different man compared to the last time I saw him swim in 2008. I missed the 2012 Olympic Games due to a seasonal job, but I hear enough about what happened to get an idea about how Phelps acted there. The swimming announcers attribute Phelps’ new attitude to having a fiancé and baby, but according to the news articles I’ve seen and videos I’ve watched of Phelps in the past week, it’s something different. So what is it, and why is everyone taking notice this year?
It’s no news that Phelps has made mistakes in the past. According to a CNN Article posted in September 2014, he was arrested that month for excessive speed, driving under the influence of alcohol, and crossing double lines in the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore, Maryland. The article states this was not the first time. Back in 2004, he was arrested for the same charges in Salisbury, Maryland, in 2009, a photo surfaced of him allegedly smoking pot. It lead to a suspension from competitive swimming. He told CNN in 2014 after the DUI that “I’ll make a thousand mistakes in my life but as long as I never make the same mistakes again, then I will learn and grow.”
After the last Olympics in London, Phelps retired, not planning to return to swimming. After being charged with his DUI in 2014, he isolated himself and later admitted his consideration of suicide. According to this article, he claimed that he was thinking, “This is the end of my life. How many more times will I mess up? Maybe the world will be better without me.” During this time, NFL Star and long-time friend of Phelps, Ray Lewis (who is also a Christian), convinced him to enter rehab and said that rock bottom is “when we fight and when real character shows up.” He encouraged Phelps to “not shut down” because “if you shut down, then we all lose.”
Lewis sent Phelps a book, which he brought with him to rehab. The book "Purpose Driven Life" by christian author Rick Warren is what got Phelps out of his dark place. It encouraged Phelps to reconnect with his estranged father through 2 Corinthians 5:18 that reads, “God has restored our relationship with Him through Christ, and has given us the ministry of restoring relationships.” The article says that he didn’t want to go through life wondering, “What if?” He didn’t want to avoid sharing those emotions he felt as a kid with his father.
With the smile on his face as he carried in America’s flag at the Opening Ceremonies and even how he interacts with the interviewers after a swim, the change in Phelps is evident. Watching him on the top podium Tuesday night with his 21st Olympic Gold Medal, the tears forming in his eyes—that is the work of Christ in his life, an overflowing of gratitude for what has been done and what the Lord has brought him through. Phelps is clearly much happier and content with where he is in life compared to years past. Before these Olympic Games and according to an article on ENews he stated: “I’m back to being the little kid who believed anything is possible.” According to everything I’ve seen thus far in Olympic swimming, I’d say this is an accurate statement.
The bible says in Matthew 18:3, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” I can see where Phelps would lose it in the competition and stress that the media has placed upon him. When the pressure is high to get medals or you have lots of eyes on you, it’s easy to lose focus on the reason why you do something in the first place, which is out of simple love. I think it’s like this for anything that we are passionate about in life, whether it be an Olympic sport like swimming, music, or even (in my case), writing and art. As kids, we could care less about the people watching us because all that matters is that we’re doing what we love, focused on that individual thing. As adults and as Christians who follow the Lord, we need to be chasing after those things we love as if we are children with a passion because it brings us life and joy. We need to remember daily that this is what the Lord wants for us. He delights in seeing us happy and passionate about what we do.
Michael Phelps is passionate about swimming and the Lord is using Him in Rio to wake people up. Phelps is alive and he is happy and it overflows on the television screen as I’m sure it does in person. In the same way, let what you love be an overflowing testimony of what the Lord is doing in your life.
