What's the Score?
The other day my son had a basketball game, but I was not able to attend. Fortunately, the school provided an online livestream of the game. However, as thankful as I was to be able to watch the game I had two problems. First, I was trying to multitask so I could only view bits and pieces of the game. Second, the video wasn’t the highest clarity so I only had a fuzzy view of the court. In fact, I rarely got to see the scoreboard, so I had trouble measuring how the game was going. The glimpses I got made it seem to me that our team was not doing well. When the scoreboard was finally shown, the score was really lopsided. Based on what I had seen I thought our team was behind. I watched the rest of the game assuming we were losing big time. Afterward I felt defeated. When I told my son that I was sorry he lost he looked at me like I was crazy. He said, “No, dad, we won by 20 points!" When I realized the truth I felt foolish for feeling so defeated. Not only had our team not been defeated but we had won handily!
This same scenario plays out in the Christian life. Our circumstances can give us a fuzzy view of life. Our busyness distracts us, the challenges defeat us, and the scoreboard of life makes us feel hopeless. They do not tell the true story for the believer. That feeling of hopelessness and loss must be confronted with the truth of Scripture. In Romans 4:17 the Bible tells us that our God is the one who “gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.” I love this verse! There is nothing he too hard for our God. No matter how bad my situation is, my God is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead. No matter how deep our needs are, my God can provide. Our God is the same God who created the entire universe out of nothing. He said, “Let there be” and there was. Whatever problems I face, whatever troubles are surrounding me, the scoreboard reminds me we are victorious in our Savior!
Does something like this sound familiar in your Christian walk? Maybe 2020 has been a year of loss after loss in your life. Take a moment and remember the cross where Jesus defeated sin and the empty tomb, where Christ triumphed over death! That is your scoreboard. No matter how defeated life has made you feel this year, you’re actually victorious in Christ. Christians in difficult circumstances in every generation have realized this and they are the ones who change the world!