The Comeback That Required Surrender

In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles did something the world didn't expect. The greatest gymnast in history — owner of 32 Olympic and World Championship medals — withdrew from competition. Not because of a broken bone or torn ligament, but because of what gymnasts call "the twisties," a disorienting mental block where the body loses its sense of position mid-air.

The world debated. Critics called it weakness. But Biles understood something profound: continuing to perform while broken inside wouldn't produce gold — it would produce catastrophe. Healing required her to stop, to admit the wound, to step back from the very thing that defined her.

Two years later, she returned at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp and won four gold medals, becoming the most decorated gymnast in history.

This is the shape of divine healing. So many of us keep performing — smiling in the lobby, serving on committees, pushing through — while something inside has lost its orientation. We're terrified that stopping means failing. But the God who calls Himself Jehovah Rapha, the Lord Who Heals, never asks us to power through our brokenness. He asks us to bring it to Him.

Psalm 147:3 promises, "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." But notice — the brokenhearted must first admit the break.

Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is step off the mat and let the Healer do His work.