What Does Your Life Say?
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain
conceit Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your
own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. – Philippians 2:3
It’s high school football championship week. The top
teams have gathered to play for the titles in each of the divisions. It’s an
exciting time in this football obsessed region.
The games are televised, so we all have the opportunity
to see the games unfold. One team won by a significant margin. I was thrilled
because I know one of the coaches and his family. It was a well-deserved state championship
win for a man who has been through a tough time.
You know how it goes. The team doesn’t win and
somebody has to take the fall. He and several other assistants were shown the
exit door. It was sad. It was done in a horrible way. And, well you probably
already guessed, the team didn’t win again this year. But this godly man went
to another team and helped that team win a state championship.
It was a tough journey, one filled with tears, as his family
had their lives uprooted. They were active in our church. They were kind and
giving. They lived their faith and it drew others to Jesus. Then he lost his
job.
What I admired so much is that his faith didn’t falter
on this hard journey. He didn’t badmouth his bosses. He didn’t get angry at
God. Instead, he handed it all over to God. He trusted that God would provide
something even better. And He did. God gave this coach a state championship.
I contrast that with another man who was also happy
with the win, though for an entirely different reason. He didn’t like the other
team because the quarterback is the little brother of a player on the college
football team he detests. You may need to read that again. Yes. It really is
that ridiculous.
He’s entitled to his opinion, of course, but his ugly
comments really contrasted so much with the coach and his situation. This man
also is an active volunteer at his church. He does many good things and has
spent much time and money on relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane
Michael. But it’s easy to forget those things when hateful words come out about
people he doesn’t even know.
Which man do you think shows the love of Jesus the
most? The one who refused to badmouth those who harmed him or the one who
badmouthed people he doesn’t know? Yeah. It’s easy to live our faith when
things are going our way and we can give without cost to ourselves. But it’s
when life gets hard, when it’s unfair, that people really learn who we are. It’s
in that dark place where true faith can shine brightly.
The coach never lost his faith. He never doubted God’s
goodness. He dealt with a situation he didn’t create, his soothed his wife’s
anger and his children’s tears and unease. And he trusted God to give them all
something better. And He did. Because God always gives His children more than
we could ever dream.
No one is better or less because of the team they
support. We forget that sometimes in our heated emotions of the moment. Watch
your words. Live like Jesus when the days hurt and you don’t understand. People
notice and they want to know why. Let your life point them toward Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment