Looking Back to Move Forward {The Atlanta Journal-Constitution}

Early in the spring, I had the opportunity of interviewing Laureus “Sport for Good” Ambassador Grant Lottering. After reading about his extraordinary story, I was curious to meet the man who escaped death.

While training for the 2013 World Masters Championship in Italy, Lottering was pronounced dead after a horrific accident. He was revived on the scene and taken to the local hospital, where doctors worked strenuously to save his life. For the next 12 months, Lottering underwent 11 surgeries, only to receive a bleak cancer diagnosis shortly afterward.

By all accounts, Lottering should not be alive. And yet, not only did he survive against all odds, but only a year after the accident, he was back on his bike and working. He founded “Im’Possible Tours,” a nonprofit focused on raising funds for underprivileged children. This year, his tours support and raise awareness for Laurel’s “Sport for Good,” an organization that uses sports as the central means to combat youth violence, discrimination and disadvantages.

While talking to Lottering, it became evident that his faith was the bulwark that protected him and the engine that propelled him through a trial that would indeed have rendered many people utterly defeated.

During the long months of hospitalization, incredible pain and uncertainties, he made a deliberate effort to focus on God’s power and the times he delivered him in the past. Lottering kept looking back to move forward – a recipe well-known to believers who have faced fear and doubts while going through valleys.

Not long ago, I recalled my conversation with Lottering while reading through the sixth chapter of the gospel of St. Mark. It is undoubtedly one of the most well-known passages of the New Testament, where we find two of Jesus’ most outstanding miracles in scriptures.

After a most extraordinary event, when the master fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, the Bible says that he “immediately made his disciples get into a boat a go ahead of him to the other side of Bethsaida, (…)” while he left for the mountain to pray.

While in the boat, the disciples encountered a massive storm. Jesus saw that his friends were struggling and afraid and therefore came to their rescue, walking on water. It was miracle number two in less than 24 hours. Instead of feeling relief, fear overtook the disciples and completely blinded them. They did not recognize the master. Ultimately, Jesus got into the boat, and the wind stopped.

The sentence in the chapter that follows the incident gives me pause: “(the disciples) were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.”

It’s astonishing that the men following Jesus and witnessing his power for years had not gained any insight from the miracle that had just happened ashore, only hours before. Instead of anchoring their hearts on what Jesus had done in the past, they allowed fear to take over and became afraid.

Lottering is one example of a believer who conquered the impossible by focusing on God’s promises and his record of deliverance in the past instead of the storm that circled him. He overcame not because of his strength but because he kept his eyes on his master, believing there would be a purpose for his trial. He reminded his heart that the God who showed up numerous times in his past was the same who would walk him through the next chapter of his life victoriously.

May Lottering’s story of victory through persevering faith, contrasted with the disciples’ memory lapse, inspire us to remember to “look back to move forward,” lest we become defeated by our trials instead of sensitive to the voice who longs to bring purpose from every pain.

This article was originally published in Patricia’s column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Saturday, July 30th, 2022. Click HERE to find it on the AJC’s website.

Click on the graphic below to listen to the entire interview on the God-Sized stories podcast.

Click Below to watch the interview on Patricia’s YouTube channel: