Lou Gehrig was known as the Iron Horse, as he played 2,130 consecutive games. For 14 years, his name was in the lineup every day. And then he came down with ALS. His weakening condition hastened a premature retirement from the game he loved.
On July 4, 1939 (83 years ago today), Gehrig addressed a massive crowd at Yankee Stadium before a game. He said, “For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” After a few more lines, the great first basemen closed with these words: “I close by saying that I might have been given a bad break, but I’ve got an awful lot to live for.”
Less than two years later, on June 2, 1941, Lou Gehrig died at the age of 37.
Here’s the lesson – life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond.
Recovery Step: Will you have some tough challenges in this life? You can count on it. But those challenges are the incubator of God’s blessings. Claim this promise today: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial” (James 1:12).
