Winning and Losing

We watched the Super Bowl last night. Lots of fun screaming, laughing, and eating. The team I wanted to win, didn’t. Kurt Warner’s life story is so inspirational to me that I really wanted him to have another Super Bowl victory. Yet, I know that God cares even for a football game, not so much the overall score but for each of the players, coaches, staff members, and spectators, so I trust that the reason for the outcome was in God’s plan.

Have you, too, suffered a loss like the losing team? Of your job? Of a friendship? Of a dream you have dreamed for a long time? Are you wondering why on earth God would allow such dejection in your life? You gave it your all, yet you came up short. Maybe you feel that God should have granted this win. You were faithful to Him, you played it out His way, and what did it get you?

Remember that God did not promise us that He would make life a bed of roses for His followers. We may now have the Holy Spirit living inside us, but we still dwell in this sinful, fallen world. People are sinning all around us, and we ourselves fall short of even our own best intentions. God did promise that He would get us through the times on this earth—the wins and the losses. When we choose to keep our minds and our hearts focused on the Lord, we choose to work together with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is always thriving, always flourishing. If we turn away from the Lord, even temporarily, we choose to live life without control, without guidance; that’s the difference from being “filled with the Holy Spirit” or not. As soon as we turn back to the Lord and realize that His control brings the ultimate best, ever, we can see His Holy Spirit leaping for joy, as He has been all along, and delivering peace to our weary hearts.

Keep loving the people around you. Keep getting up each day and praising God for a new day to serve Him. One moment, one step at a time… giving God the glory as He sees you through this time of defeat. That is our victory—our victory in Christ.