At its core, professing the Christian faith means believing with all our heart that God brings light out of darkness.
Thus, it should not surprise us when we see it happen, but it still has the power to amaze.
At a press conference on Friday at the woke and blasphemous Olympics in Paris, gold medalist Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany responded to a moderator’s question by breaking into a gospel song in praise of Jesus.
To his credit, the moderator prompted Ogunleye with a question seemingly designed to call forth a worshipful hymn.
“Yemi, is it true you sing in the gospel choir?” he asked.
When she replied in the affirmative, he asked her what song she had going through her head during the competition.
According to Athletics Weekly, Ogunleye won the women’s shot put gold medal in dramatic fashion. After entering the final round in second place, she saved her best throw for last, earning a come-from-behind victory over Maddison-Lee Wesche of New Zealand.
“I just lifted my hands and prayed before my final attempt, and I wanted to have a good last round,” Ogunleye said. “Then after that throw and realizing it would maybe be good enough for gold, I thought, ‘Thank you, Jesus.’”
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The newly-minted gold medalist brought that same spirit of gratitude to her press-conference rendition of “I Almost Let Go.”
Written more than 20 years ago by Grammy Award-nominated gospel composer Kurt Carr, “I Almost Let Go” tells a story of a person who nearly succumbed to depression before experiencing God’s salvation.
Ogunleye sang eleven lines from the middle of the song:
I almost let go.
I was quite at the edge of a breakthrough,
But couldn’t see it.
The devil really had me,
But Jesus came and grabbed me.
He held me close, so I wouldn’t let go.
God’s mercy kept me, so I wouldn’t let go.
So I’m here today because God kept me.
I’m alive today only because of His grace.
Oh, He kept me. God kept me. God’s mercies kept me,
So I wouldn’t let go.
The German gold medalist’s powerful and angelic voice belted out those lyrics for 52 seconds.
“That was the song that I was just singing,” she then said as the moderator, silver-medalist Wesche and bronze-medalist Jiayuan Song of China applauded the performance.
Readers may watch the press conference below. Ogunleye began singing at the 9:30 mark.
With her rendition of “I Almost Let Go,” Ogunleye became the latest female athlete to redeem the diabolical Olympics.
For instance, in an interview with NBC’s Mike Tirico, American hurdler and gold-medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone gave glory to God.
British hurdler Cindy Sember posted an Instagram video that featured her and ten other female athletes from different countries gathered around a piano and singing praise to Jesus.
And Brazilian teenage skateboarding sensation Rayssa Leal looked into the camera while praising Jesus through sign language.
Thus, we must pray for anyone who does not yet see God at work in the voices of Ogunleye and those other incredible athletes who brought light from the darkness of the woke Olympics.
