There are a lot of opportunities to win or lose in life. We have those opportunities every day. Probably the best metaphor we have for winning and losing in life everyday are sports. Sports are good, especially when we’re kids, because they give us the opportunity to experience winning and losing. They also teach us life skills for how to persevere. We learn how to strategize and train and get ourselves in the best position possible to win. Because winning does matter, it’s just a matter of what you’re talking about winning.
I was watching the Nebraska/Michigan St. football game this past weekend. I was thinking about this topic in regards to this game. I noticed at the beginning that Nebraska was getting rolled by Michigan St. They were down by several touchdowns at the end of the first half. They weren’t able to get their running game going because Michigan St. had pretty much shut down that option. They happened to get three touchdowns, two of which were passing plays. At the end Nebraska was able to get within 5 points but still came up short. It seemed Nebraska failed to adapt to the conditions, or at least in time, and come away with the win. Maybe if they had changed strategies earlier they wouldn’t have had the huge deficit to overcome and could have ended up winning.
Well, why didn’t they do this? They were probably holding onto what they knew. A tried and true running game that had worked for them so far. There was probably also fear involved. They probably thought, “What if we try something else and that doesn’t work? So, let’s keep going with this strategy.” This is the kind of thinking we can end up in if we are playing not to lose instead of playing to win. See, when you’re playing not to lose, you are playing out of fear and just trying hold on to what you have. When you’re playing to win, you’re playing aggressively and taking a chance. You’re looking forward with courage and not afraid of losing. That’s what ‘playing to win’ means. It means you go out there every time and lay it all on the line. This strategy isn’t always implemented, however. As much as coaches like to talk about it, fear can get the better of them. They have a lot of pressure on them from the outside.
Fear can get the better of us as well. It’s always good to realize when we are acting out of fear in any situation. Sometimes fear will keep us from going down the wrong track. But you can usually tell when there’s a path you should take, and fear is the only thing that’s holding you back. This is when we need to just move forward regardless of the fear.
We have an even greater reason to fight as Christians. The reason is we can know that God is with us in the battles he has given us the authority to fight. There’s a story in the Bible in Joshua 10:8 “And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.” Here God was talking to Joshua about the Amorites. The Lord promised him victory. He proved himself strong on their behalf. Joshua and the Israelites had to fight, but God did a number of things to help them in their victory. The Bible says that God discomfited (or confused) the enemy. He sent hailstones which killed them. It says there were more that died with hailstones than by the Israelites’ sword. Joshua even asked God to give them more daylight to fight and God did it. The sun was kept from going down for about an entire day.
Soon after telling him that he had inoperable pancreatic cancer, the medical professional samples of viagra also informed him that he could visualize the potential of tattoo art on everyday wear. Overdose of it can sales viagra be seriously damaging. Some patients should also appalachianmagazine.com prescription de levitra not take it because of their medicines. Kamagra is available in two forms in which people can find kamagranow. ordine cialis on line
The thing that stands out to me in this is God’s willingness to help us in a battle that he has commanded us and given us authority in. This was really just one of a series of battles in which God had helped the Israelites to fight their enemies. They were going forth and fighting knowing that God would give them the victory.
Even as believers, though, we are meant to take risks. There are risks that need to be taken in life. Just like a farmer who plants a crop every year, which is what this verse describes. Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.” You may be wondering what this means. Well, it just means that if we are always looking at the circumstances, we can always find reasons not to do something. So, just like a farmer who doesn’t sow because it’s too windy or doesn’t reap because it’s raining, we can’t just sit inside the house because we’re afraid. Eventually we’ll have to get out there and plant a crop, so that we can then reap a harvest.
This is ‘playing to win’. You move forward with faith and courage to do what God has told you to do, not regarding the circumstances, knowing that he has given you what you need in order to win.
Joshua 10:8 “And the LORD said unto Joshua, Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thine hand; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.”
Ecclesiastes 11:4 says, “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.”