“Continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you. Matthew 7:7 ERV
Super Bowl LI is history, and what a game it was. But it taught me a lesson even when I didn’t think I needed one. I like to watch football, especially playoff games, but it’s a superficial liking. Just to make that statement clearer let me tell you that my favorite team the Seattle Seahawks was picked because I liked their helmets. I know not a good reason, but then again I’m a superficial fan. Anyway I went into the Super Bowl wanting the Falcons to win just because they never won a Super Bowl and I felt quite ambivalent about the Patriots.
Everything was going great watching the Pre-game festivities, enjoying the snacks and happy that the Falcons were winning. But in the last five minutes of the game my mood changed when the Patriots began to win. I didn’t want them to win, they didn’t deserve it! After all they’re cheaters! I began to think this whole thing was planned. They couldn’t just win the game, they had to make a real show of it just to put it in the face of Roger Goodell, because of Deflate Gate. My theory was based on none of the Patriots seeming to be upset while they were losing (I mean really, my mind was on a roll and not a good one). I walked away and got ready for bed in disgust of what just happened.
I ended up going to bed with unsubstantiated thoughts going on in my head. And to no surprise, I woke up in a bad mood. As I discussed the game with my husband in the morning I was still on a roll. As I made my point of why they shouldn’t have won, again, I was beginning to become uneasy with my rant and found myself asking, “What is wrong with you? You could have cared less about who won before the game, what happened? So I spent some extra devotion time, and just like the Bible tells us if we ask, He will give us an answer, even if it’s one we don’t want
I soon realized I was upset because I didn’t get what I wanted, the underdog to win. Not the team who in my view would do anything, even cheat to win. As a pastor over the past few months people were sharing with me unfair circumstances in their lives. They felt that it didn’t matter anymore whether you did the right thing or not, the “bad” people always got ahead. Evil was winning and there was nothing we could do. And because some of them were justified in their feelings I realized I was angry not only for them but for unfair things in my life.
At this point I knew I had to change my thinking and get a new perspective. First I thanked God for showing me that I was holding resentment in my heart and I needed to confess it and be forgiven. Then I began to praise Him, that I serve a God who loves me so much that He was willing to use a football game to bring me healing and restoration of my soul. I began to feel a lifting off of the heaviness I awoke with. The dark thoughts began to be flooded with the light of His presence and His Word as I recited Psalm 23. At this point I found myself praying with a new fervency for others who were struggling with injustice and that they too would experience His love, mercy, grace and forgiveness in a new way and then share it and give it to others.
As I watched the Patriots celebrate today, it was with new eyes. I saw Tom Brady love his family and Bill Belichick give his team the honor they were due. And truly it was a much better feeling.
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