The Thrill of Victory

I make my blog post and move over to my emails and, first thing, my eyes about bug out as I see that our Dallas Stars Hockey Team won their Western Conference Championship the night before. For the first time in 20 years, the Dallas Stars are heading to the Stanley Cup Final! Now they have my attention.

Isn’t it funny how we get lackadaisical to our teams when they aren't making their marks in their game seasons? As I walked my two Frisco grand-dogs a couple of weeks ago, I saw homes with Dallas Stars team flags in their front yards. I simply thought “loyal fans – wonder if they know someone on the team” – not once thinking that they may be doing well in their season. Suddenly, I am a fan! Suddenly, it feels good to have a win during this season when there have been so many loses. I am amused as I watch the final seconds of play, hearing the mega-crowd cheering with all out abandonment. Amused, that there are NO fans in the stands and what we hear is just a sound bite. Still, a win is a win is a win!!

In 2018, it was our Winnipeg Jets who beat the Nashville Predators 5–4 and clinched a spot in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs. Our Winnipeg cousins, Gord and Sher, brought me a Winnipeg Jet shirts that season and, suddenly, we are amped up and become loyal fans of their home team (and ours from when we lived there for seven years in the 80s & 90s).

Aw! The thrill of victory! We could use many of those days – right? And, there are “wins” happening all around us if we would but SEE them instead of the agonies of defeat that have seemed way too common in these last few months.

This season is just temporary anyway. It’s merely a season – and seasons come and go. I have friends and family members who saw the passing on of loved ones and I have friends who welcomed precious babies and new life into their homes. There were those who lost their jobs but found better ones. There were those who had some big wins by using their abilities to be innovative and creative. I have seen two churches in Austin merge and become one gigantic church that can reach the lost of their city in a greater way. I heard that some churches have thrived so much with online church that they have fed more hungry people, helped many financially and created more programming and outreaches than ever before. So many joys of victory – if we would but SEE.

Here’s an agony of defeat and thrill of victory story that changes the way we SEE our seasons. Jesus came to this earth for you and me – showed us the way to live in victory by following His lead, trusting in Him and His promises – showing us that even in times of defeat – we still win. He suffered the agony of our defeat on the cross and the joy of victory in His resurrection. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see defeat and failures. He sees victors who are made clean through the blood of Jesus. He won the victory for us and now we get to cheer on the “home” team. We get to show people how important our Savior (aka our Coach) is. We get to help others get ready. Because ready or not, Jesus is coming. We are all team-players when it comes to being devoted followers of Christ. We suit up daily, we exercise our faith by studying God’s Word, praying, spending time with our Coach. He has all the team plays and staying in His presence, we have the wisdom of our Coach. We will not know the agony of defeat because our relationship with our Coach assures us the thrill of victory that awaits us. Now, let’s do everything we can to spread the word about our TEAM so others can celebrate with us. Let’s do everything we can so they will never have to know the agony of defeat!

Rose Gardens Need a Little Rain

Yesterday, I was sitting at my desk in the morning and the sun was so bright coming through my office window from the East, that I had to move my computer. Then in the afternoon, the dark clouds were looming in the East. Rain was on its way. This has been an unusual summer. Though we have had some blistering temperatures, we have also had more rain than usual. I've learned not to complain about the heat, the cold or rain, because, here in Oklahoma, it's subject to change daily. We might as well.....go with the flow!

Isn't that like our personal "climates", too? One day we are bright with a sunny disposition. Things are going our way -- even the lights are turning green before we get to them. And, another day, it's cloudy, rainy with thunderstorms overtaking us. The thrills of that "shout-hallelujah" victory can be overtaken by that "woe is me"
agony of defeat.

It's inevitable that there will be ups and downs in our lives. Country Music singer, Lynn Anderson, made the song "Rose Garden" famous. The lyrics were: “I beg your pardon. I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there’s got to be a little rain sometime.”

When we read the writings of the Apostle Paul, we might think that he and Lynn Anderson were singing the same song. Paul talked a lot about suffering, but he also talked a lot about the peace of God. He was talking about a calm that comes because of God's love for us. The calm that comes even when the storm clouds gather. Paul even had the audacity to tell us to "rejoice in our sufferings"! He said in Romans 3:3-5 "We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."

Are you kidding me? We're supposed to rejoice in our sufferings -- from being hospitalized because of an illness, to going through a divorce, to be faced with a bankruptcy, to dealing with the death of a loved one, to losing a job -- we are supposed to rejoice in those sufferings? He didn't mean for us to go "Hip hip hooray! I've lost my job; my husband passed away; the creditors are taking my car!" No, no, no. Instead, he meant that suffering is a part of life. No matter how many times we complain that life is not fair, Paul wants us to know that suffering (a little rain) is the part of our lives that helps us grow to those hope-filled people of character and determination.

What Lynn Anderson's song doesn't tell us, and what Paul wanted so desperately for us to know, is that our God loves us so much that He promised never to leave us alone. Yes, the rain comes AND suffering comes, but with God, we'll receive patient endurance. And patience leads to character. And character leads to hope. And hope will not disappoint us. That's a mighty fine recipe for pulling us from the darkest of times, to the sunshiniest times EVER. That's when we'll be singing "I'm walking on sunshine (whoa oh)! And don't it feel good!"