Have I told you how much I enjoy sports? Wow, we all witnessed another incredible game last night as Virginia beat Texas Tech 85-77 in overtime to become the National Champions in college basketball!
In thinking about the reaction everyone is having to Virginia’s phenomenal victory, for me, it's more about the entire story that led them here...as well as, the chapters that will be written for many years to come.
Over and over again we are going to hear how Virginia went from losing to a 16 seed to winning the championship. ESPN.com’s headline today reads: “Virginia's Redemption was One Year, 23 Days in the Making.”
But even though this kind of win is truly remarkable and seems like a script written for a Hollywood movie, I am more interested in the layers and lessons that have been learned while leading up to this extraordinary moment.
This redemption story isn’t just “one year, 23 days in the making” and the story isn’t close to being over. Of course, this particular chapter is truly amazing, but why only look at this one chapter?
Head Coach Tony Bennett has been preparing for this specific season for many years. His story includes playing for his Dad in college, having a short NBA career, meeting his wife, watching his team struggle year after year in the tournament, and watching his assistant coaches leave.
It also includes the decision to leave Washington State to take over at Virginia. Every step along the way, his character and faith were being developed and ultimately tested. Not every coach would have been able to handle this chapter, but each moment of his redemption story contributed to last night’s special win.
Tony Bennett and Virginia’s journey reminds me how each of us has our own redemption story. Every season of the journey contributes to the overall story and God continually redeems anything and everything for His purposes.
We don’t see the whole picture and we can’t control everything that happens to us, but we do control our attitude, our response, our perspective, our daily choices, and our daily patterns. These factor into how our story plays out.
So today with Virginia's story as an example, we should ask ourselves, do we believe God will redeem our biggest failure? Are we remaining faithful during the journey out of that failure? Do we persevere when another challenge pops up while we’re on the way forward? Do we remain calm and poised during the storm? Do we have hope that our story isn’t over?
It’s important to realize that as followers of Jesus, the Author of our faith has already written an awesome redemption story for us and invites us to follow His script and trust Him along the way. It’s not over after a “loss to a 16th-seed” and it’s not over after a championship game. Our story is on-going as we are preparing for eternity with God.
While embracing each moment of our journey, let’s remember the Author and look to Him for the direction He’s taking us next. Let’s cling to the hope and encouragement Hebrews 12:1-2 (AMP) assuredly gives us:
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses , stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith , who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God .”
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for the story You've written for me and for Your redeeming power along the way. Help me to remain faithful and hopeful as I experience disappointments and failures...knowing that You’ll use them to prepare me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
Comments