The Game Ain't Over Yet!

I may be a bit biased, but I think my son is a great football player. Unfortunately, his team has had a rough year. Not only are they in a rebuilding year, to make matters worse, several of the players who began the season with the team are no longer playing. Some have been injured, some have been kicked off the team, and others have simply quit – walked out on the rest of the team. I was taught many years ago that a team sport is just that – a sport that involves a team. And when you commit to play as part of the team, as long as there are still games on the schedule, you play. You don’t quit. You don’t walk off the field in disgust blaming the rest of the players for your losses. Everyone shares in the victories as well as the defeats. And as long as the season is still going, there is time left to play, opportunities to outscore your opponents, and chances to win. You can cry and moan about the season later, but for now, you've got to play with all your heart and never, ever give up. If the whole season depended on you alone, there might be reason to give up. But there are more players than you… you are not alone.
I remember the day I learned that lesson. Our wrestling team had lost to our conference rivals. When we returned to the school, the football coach asked me how we did. I replied, “Well, I won, but the rest of the team lost.” He quickly put me in my place. He said, “So I guess you’re not part of the stinking team are you? What about when the team doesn’t stink? Are you a part of it then?” I got it & I felt like a complete idiot. I never wrote the team off or separated myself from them again. I became the loudest cheerleader on the team. I tried my best to get everyone to see the possibilities that lay ahead instead of the losses we left behind. We moaned and groaned at the end of the season, but as long as we had matches left to wrestle, we believed we had a chance to succeed. And none of us quit… we hung in there together. And together we completed the year with a winning record.
There’s a good life lesson in that story. Sometimes we may feel as though we’ve been beaten up for so long we can never make a come back. Maybe every thing you’ve attempted to do has turned out to be a failure. You may even feel like there is a cosmic ogre following you around waiting for a chance to knock you down. So why bother staying in the game? Why try to make a difference in the world? Why dream anymore if your dreams are always dashed… Man! That sounds gloomy... Get out the violins! You've got to keep this in mind: You are not traveling thru this life alone. You have a team if you’re a member of the faith family. There are others around you cheering you on and pulling for you to succeed. And as long as this game of life is going, you still have time to turn things around… As long as we have breath, we have opportunities ahead to trust that God will help us finish the season well. We can cry when it’s all over if we need to, but it’s not over yet. So when the problems and trials of life knock you down, get back up, dust yourself off, surround yourself with the team and stay in the game. Even if every bone in your body is screaming for you to drop out and quit, hang in there. God isn’t thru with you yet. He has a plan and purpose for your life that is not yet completed. If He were done with you, you’d already be in the heavenly locker room. But you're not there yet so the game ain't over! Whether you realize it or not, Christ is our Team Coach. And whether you realize it or not, He is actively involved in every circumstance and problem in your life, working it all together for your good and for His glory. And as long as He is involved, there is plenty of reason to hope and to stay in the game. If we could live with that philosophy, the only tears we would shed when the season of life is over would be tears of joy when we receive the victor’s crown.
Paul had that philosophy. That’s why he encouraged us all, "Therefore, dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)
I think I’ll quit crying now and get back out there on the field… The game isn’t over yet. There is still time left on the clock and a lot of plays yet to run. Yogi Berra once said, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” Brothers and sisters, the game ain’t over yet. So dry your eyes and get in the game! “Put me in Coach; I’m ready to play!” Let’s go team! Let’s kick some of Satan’s teeth out! He might be a roaring lion, but after we’re thru with him, he’ll be a toothless roaring lion!

Posted in: perseverance, persistence, Problems, trials