Does God Care Who Wins?

February 14, 2019

Yes, God cares, but not in the way you might think.

Author, Paul Batura masterfully addressed this question after Super Bowl LIII.  He noted that despite the immensity of influence of the Super Bowl, 100 million people watching, there's nothing overly noble about grown men trying to get a pigskin across a white chalked goal line.  It is just a game. 

But, even though it is just a game, God does care who wins. Not because He is a fan.  Instead, because God cares about every detail of our lives and is constantly weaving those details together, though very often in mysterious, confusing and even confounding ways.

Not only is God aware and involved, but He is also the master weaver  - using one outcome to influence an avalanche of others, often in unseen and remarkable ways. We should not dismiss or diminish His role in the small details of our lives.

Learning what hours and hours of hard work, dedication, determination and grit looks like has incredible value, for both the winners and the losers.  If these values are not woven through the everyday cloth of normal life, then the fabric of life is weak indeed.

Competition has a way of testing those fibers ...whether it's for the athletes themselves or the fans cheering or parents and loved ones watching. 

I love the honesty of one mother describing her journey learning these lessons with her own kids.

I have seen on my son's face and my daughter's face the "loss" "didn't win" "bucked off" "didn't get a trophy" look more times than this mama's heart can handle.  When my son was 4 and started wrestling, he didn't get a ribbon at a meet and my heart crushed, like broke, and I cried, because he came up to me so sad I never wanted to see that look on his face EVER again!  I went home, ordered ribbons that said 'Good Job' and took them to the coaches.  Bless their hearts, they sat me down and gave it to me straight...this isn't going to teach your son or you anything...I was a hot mess at the time, but they were right!   I pray for all those tough parents and tough coaches because they are building incredible kids.

“The Entitlement Cure: Not Everyone Gets a Trophy”, written by Julie Fournier sums it up beautifully...  “You don’t get a trophy for showing up and doing your job.  If you want more, do more.  You’re not entitled to anything.  You don’t deserve anything, but if you put in the hard work, you can earn anything you want”.

Both teams in the Super Bowl learned valuable things.  One earned the trophy.  Everyday we all learn valuable lessons.  And God does care.  He is weaving the very fabric of your being into the strongest person you can imagine!

 

 

 

 

 

 




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