As I sat there on Sunday, I'm sure I was not alone in my disbelief at what I just witnessed. Of course, I'm talking about the New York Giants upset of the New England Patriots. For you non-sports fans, I promise this will be my last blog consisting of a football analogy for a while, but this one I couldn't pass up.
Although there may have been a few hard-core Giants fans out there who truly believed their team could pull this off, other than those guys and the Giants players who suited up for the game, there weren't a lot of people who thought it was possible. Sure, there were the anti-Patriot fans and the fans who always root for the underdog that hoped and prayed for it, but few thought it was possible.
I mean, come on, for the most part the Patriots cruised through the season with ease. There were only a few games where it appeared they even broke a sweat. There were times throughout the season, they looked like they belonged in another league altogether. But, Sunday, you just had a feeling throughout the entire game, that these guys weren't invincible. It actually looked like, they could be beat. It seemed as if for the first time all year, they were matched up against a team who actually believed they could beat them. It was as if the Giants hadn't got the memo that they didn't have a chance. Proof of that was when Brady lead his team down for the go ahead TD, and the Giants actually came right back and answered. All year long, when the Patriots landed that kind of blow, their opponents never answered back. Oh, but not on this day. For on the other sidelines stood a team, not mesmerized by their opponent. A team who wasn't intimidated by names like Brady or Moss or Harrison or Bruschi. It was a team that just knew they had been in this situation throughout the season and had pulled off more come from behind wins in the 4th quarter than any other team all year. It was as if they had the Patriots right where they wanted them.
Ok, I'll stop with all the sports jargon now. The truth is, when I was younger, I really wanted to be a sports announcer and that kind of made me feel like one for a moment. The fact is, with every play of that final drive, you had the feeling that these guys can do this. You had the feeling that these guys could actually beat this unbeatable Patriots team. And then when Eli pulls that Houdini move out and Tyree leaps into the air and pulls down that catch, you kind of felt like there might be some kind of divine intervention going on here.
Does God intervene in football? I don't know, all I know is that a team that wasn't suppose to win did. They didn't listen to the sports experts and all the others who said they couldn't. They just went out there and won.
I hope you're getting all this. Its so true, that we can learn valuable life lessons from almost anywhere if we'll look for them. Yes, even a football game. We are hammered from every side in life. There are times when things look impossible and every voice out there reaffirms that. Perhaps, your marriage is in trouble, or maybe it's already ended in divorce. Maybe, you're struggling in the area of finances. Perhaps, your teen has fallen away from the things of God, and his or her situation seems grim. Maybe, you've lost a loved one and you find yourself overwhelmed by it all.
Whatever the case may be and wherever it is you find yourself, you need to know that you can whip this thing. Sure, everything looks hopeless, but we serve a God who loves those kind of odds. You see, although I'm not sure how much God intervenes when it comes to football, I do know that he intervenes in our lives. And when the world is screaming at you and telling you that you're not gonna make it, and that there's no hope for you, the God who created the universe is whispering:"You are more than a conqueror!" "Don't quit!" "Don't give up!" "You're a winner!" "You can do this!""You can make it!" The key is who are you gonna believe? What message are you going to take to heart and act on?
The New York Giants won that game because they believed they could. And they went out there and played like they believed it. Alot of times, although we know the God we serve is big, we live life as though we believe our opposition is unbeatable. In order to win though, you have to believe you can win. You have to believe that whatever it is that stands in your way can be overcome and then you have to act like you believe it. New York believed they could win and then they hit Tom Brady more times than he had been hit all year and sacked him more times than any other team had all year long. They didn't panic when they got behind, they just went out there and kept hammering away. If you believe you can win, you just keep hammering away. And when your opponent strikes a blow, you just keep hammering away. Trust me, if you'll do that, at some point in the battle, there's that moment when your opponent begins to realize he is in trouble. Yep, the author of fear himself, begins to experience a little fear. It isn't long after this, and the ole boy is on the run.
As I watched the game, I loved the last play of the winning drive by the Giants. Manning drops back and with ease simply floats the ball into the corner of the endzone to Burress who is all alone for the score. They probably practiced that play hundreds of times over the course of the past few years and have run it with success numerous times. It looked so easy. Here's my final point, in the heat of the battle there are those moments when things are really difficult. But then there comes that moment when you've won, and you know you've won and that last blow is a piece of cake. I've never won a Superbowl, but I've won a few battles in life so I think I can relate to what Manning was feeling when he floated that ball to Burress. It's that feeling that only comes when you realize you just pulled off what others thought was impossible. It's when every cell of your body wants to explode with excitement.
If you're in the heat of a battle right now, you can experience moments like these. If you find yourself surrounded by circumstances that scream defeat, hang in there. Keep hammering away. Trust the fact that you've got a battle partner who is truly unbeatable. Victory is certain, you just have to believe it!
No comments:
Post a Comment