Janine Beckie was dropped from Canada's 2015 World Cup team, before winning gold in Tokyo,,,
When Canadian striker Janine Beckie celebrated Olympic gold in Tokyo with her national soccer team, she must have reflected on the winding road that got her there.
It was her Christian faith that helped her overcome the crushing disappointment of missing the cut for Canada’s 2015 World Cup team.
“I had sacrificed so much to make the team,” she wrote on sportgomag.com. “I was the last cut made from the team before the World Cup.
“Though I had grown up in church and given my life to Christ as a teenager, I was still trying to figure out what it meant to be a follower of Christ.
“Because of my faith in Jesus, I knew this wasn’t the end of the road; that wasn’t how my story would be written. I see now that God had another opportunity for me.
“The following year I made the team that represented Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where we won bronze!”
And now that success has been eclipsed by gold in Tokyo for Beckie, who has played for Manchester City since 2018.
“A big role of every Christ-follower is to look as much like Jesus as we can,” she says.
“I want others to remember me as being kind, compassionate and a great teammate, while also being hard-working and relentless on the field.
“My favourite Bible verse is Isaiah 40:31, which says, ‘Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.’
“I love this verse because it’s an important reminder for me that I’m not responsible to do everything out of my own strength. I can find my strength in Jesus.”
