Friday, June 25, 2010

Sports and Life

Wednesday was a day of incredible performances in the world of sports. Sports are a wonderful metaphor for life.

Proverbs 24:16 – The godly may trip seven times, but they will also rise seven times.

John Isner was a very good, but fairly obscure tennis play before Wednesday. The obscurity changed when the American defeated Nicolas Mahut by a score of 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 70-68 in the longest tennis match in history. It was a story of two men who wouldn’t quit. They pushed their bodies, their minds, their skills, and each other well beyond what any observer thought was possible. They won’t be remembered for their outstanding tennis skills; they will be remembered for their perseverance. And so it is with life: Most of the great achievements of the world have been accomplished by tired and discouraged people who kept on working. When you get tired and discouraged: don’t quit. Keep on keeping on.


Genesis 12:1-2 – The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.”

Matt Curry kept the Texas Christian baseball season alive. The senior’s towering grand slam over the centerfield wall on a two-out, 3-2 pitch in the eighth inning highlighted a shocking, eight-run inning by TCU that erased a seemingly insurmountable Florida State lead and kept TCU’s season afloat with an 11-7 comeback victory Wednesday in an elimination game at the College World Series. It was a defining moment for Matt Curry. Abraham had a defining moment as well. And so it is with life: We all have defining moments—both good and the bad. Embrace these moments, learn from them, and grow because of them.


John 11:43 - Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

With just three minutes left in their World Cup, all the doubts about American soccer were rising again. But then, in one of the most stunning turnarounds in World Cup history, Landon Donovan scored on a lightning fast counterattack 45 seconds into 4 minutes of injury time. With the most amazing late-game moment in American soccer, the United States beat Algeria 1-0 and reached the World Cup's second round. And so it is with life: Comebacks are possible. The United States came back from elimination. Lazarus came back from the dead. We can come back from adversity, dysfunction, addiction, defeat, and pain. With God’s help, people do it all the time. And so can you.

The best is yet to come…

Craig

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