Can You Find The Win?

Can You Find The Win?

This past weekend our son, Landon, was playing basketball in what was their last tournament of the season, also known as the state tournament. And, for those who have kids in youth sports, you know that this tournament is often chalked up, primarily by the kids themselves, as being a pretty big deal in their little lives. Well, Landon’s team played their hearts out, but were not as successful as they had hoped. 

With that said on Sunday at 8am, Landon’s team had a game which would determine if they would play in a consolation game which I believe would have put them in 9th place out of a 14 bracket tournament. And, I’m sharing those details to emphasize the meaning of this Sunday morning game. In other words, it was not by any means a championship game. Yet, if you had been watching it and saw how emotional our son was, you definitely would have thought they were playing for first!

I share that because playing hard and doing so as if every game were a championship game, is definitely something that our son does. And as many would view it, it IS a very good characteristic for an athlete or person to carry. It means the person is driven, that they care deeply, are willing to work hard, to give it their all, and to never give up. But, there can also be a shadow side to it where the competitive nature or strong desire to win can result in things such as uncontrolled emotions or behaviors that are not admirable. And, more often that not, those behaviors are not who that person is at the core of their being. Our Landon is sweet, tender, and cares deeply about others. Yet, you don’t see that on the court when he is competitive. 

I share this because we ALL have gifts, or characteristics that God put in us for his good. Yet, often, our greatest gifts can be our greatest source of tension or learning. When our gifts are overused, misapplied or relied on too heavily, they can actually become a liability. In other words, what was an asset turns into a burden, hazard, risk, or problem. We need to remember this to be aware for ourselves, but also to extend grace to others. 

As an example, I was just talking to a friend the other day about her gift of empathy. Which, is the ability to understand or share the feelings of another person. I acknowledged that it is a true gift, but it can be a difficult one to steward because it often leads to carrying weight that is not ours to be carrying. In other words, we were created to care not to carry.

Have you ever heard the phrase “too much of a good thing is a bad thing”? I think of this often, and believe it is very important for us to remember. Especially, in the world of abundance that most of us live in. We have to be so “on guard” in our lives to ensure that we stay well-balanced, and that nothing becomes an idol in our lives. Simply put, an idol is something we believe we “can’t live without.” It consumes our thoughts, and we believe we have to have it to be happy, secure or significant. Please hear me when I say, it’s not that God doesn’t want us to have that person, thing, accomplishment, hobby or characteristic in our life. He just doesn’t want it to overtake our lives. Why? Because he knows that HE is the ONLY good thing that we can never have too much of! And, that his love is the ONLY thing that cannot be taken from us. Everything else in life, is not guaranteed.  

I know that there are people out there who, like Landon on Sunday, feel like they are losing. And, what I want to emphasize today is a thought I had later on Sunday morning which was this: “With every loss, there is an opportunity to find a win.” Why did that thought come to mind for me? Because of what happened AFTER Landon’s team lost their game that morning. 

You see, we went to Lakeville that morning thinking we were going to spend the majority of our morning in the gymnasium watching basketball. And, even though I believe the Lord wanted Landon to win because he loves his children and he loves when they win, he knew that Landon needed to lose because he had other things for Landon to gain, or win. The Lord knew that on the other side of this school, there was an auditorium hosting a church service. He also knew that the pastor was a friend of ours, who we needed to reconnect with. And, that there was going to be immersion baptisms happening after the service.

So, after Landon’s loss it was quickly decided that we would attend church. And, I must admit that I may have bought Landon a donut and a gatorade to lessen the whining when I told him we were going to church after his game! Ha! But, I can confidently say that this church was exactly where the Lord wanted all of us to be. Not only did we, along with one of Landon’s friends, get to join an auditorium of strangers to worship the Lord, we also heard a powerful message about grief and loss. And one thing (amongst many) that I wrote down was “we have to readjust from what was and get ready for what is to come!” 

Those words really stood out to me, because of many situations that Jeff and I have recently been walking through personally, but have also been a witness to in others’ lives. It seems like many people are going through a season of things in life changing, shifting, or being exposed.  Some things are good and exciting, yet most things are really hard or difficult. Difficult conversations, difficult decisions, difficult change and difficult circumstances. In other words, it’s been feeling like a lot of losing vs a lot of winning. YET, what God showed us on Sunday, is that if we choose to worship, and put our hope and trust in HIM, he will always help us find the win. When one door closes, another one opens. God doesn’t want us to focus on the past, instead wants us to trust him with our future. I have learned that it is so important for me to accept and learn this, not only for myself, but so that I can help teach my kids this too.

I witnessed Landon lose a basketball game that meant a lot to him. But, because he lost he got to witness a woman give her life to the Lord and be baptized into God’s family. AND I got to stand behind him and watch him smile and clap his hands to cheer her on! In that moment, it was so clear to me that God wants to do that for ALL OF US. He wants to lead us from a place of loss, to a place of cheering and rejoicing because of him showing us the win. He wants us to lay down what we think is most important in life, and allow him to show us what truly is.

You see, God promises us that in ALL things he works for the good of those who love him (Romans 8:28). And, if you look at John 16:20-22 Jesus promises that our sorrow shall be turned into joy! He says “it will be like a woman suffering the pain of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into this world.”

With that said, I hope I can encourage you with this question…..

What new thing is the Lord trying to birth in your life?