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I'll Win It
For You
The game was tight. Archrivals had faced off for
three and a half periods in a seesaw battle that
was going down to the wire. As the clock ticked
down, the two sides traded the lead back and forth.
Neither could be assured of victory because with
the game so close, anything could happen.
From the sideline, the coach watched his team getting
more and more apprehensive as the seconds ticked
away. They were missing shots they never missed.
They were missing opportunities they didn't miss.
Even their body language said, "This is bad.
We might lose this one."
With less than a minute left, the coach called
a time out. Now he knew that every girl on that
court had been over the plays a million times. They
didn't need elaborate help to set up a play for
a last second win. They needed to calm down and
play the way they knew how to play. So when they
bent into that huddle, the coach told them something
more than a little unconventional. "Go out
there. Play the game. Have fun. Do your best, and
I'll win it for you."
No pressure instructions. No you have to win this
or we lose to our rivals. No anxiety-inducing strategy.
Simply, "Go play, and I'll win it for you."
To my way of thinking, that was an audacious statement
because in reality, it wouldn't be the coach taking
the shot that would win or lose the game. He would
be standing on the sideline with no direct control
whatsoever. However, this coach knew something about
the training these girls had been through, and he
knew without a doubt they could do it. The problem
was they didn't know they could do it, and so, he
let them rely not on themselves for the win but
on him.
The amazing thing to me when I really started thinking
about this statement is that what that coach told
his team is exactly what Jesus tells each one of
us: "Go out there. Play the game. Have fun.
Do your best, and I'll win it for you."
We think it's all on us-that we have to get everything
right, do everything perfectly, or our "win"
will never materialize. In fact, we get sucked into
this mentality that Heaven may be just out of our
reach no matter what we do. However, I think the
reality is that Jesus is the coach standing on the
sideline having full faith that we can do everything
He's trained us to do. We can love just like He's
shown us. We can give; we can live-not because we
can do it on our own but because He's right there,
and He has faith that we have been given everything
we need to win through Him.
I'm sure you know the end of the story. When the
buzzer sounded, the team who had just gone out,
had fun, and done their best was victorious.
One day the final buzzer of your life will sound,
and the question at that moment will be this: Did
you allow Jesus to be your coach? Did have faith
that He would win the game for you-or are you still
trying to win it yourself? It's a question worth
contemplating.
by: Staci Stallings
See the Newest Feature Article,
Living
in God's Hands here.
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