Terrence Shannon had a successful basketball career at Illinois and is currently a rookie with the Minnesota Timberwolves. During the All-Star break, Shannon returned to Illinois on Saturday for his jersey retirement ceremony.
It's a tremendous honor to receive this award as an athlete, but when he pulled a string to unveil the banner with his number "0" jersey, it turned out to be upside down!
The crowd reacted with disbelief and uncomfortable laughter. This blunder shouldn’t have happened on Terrence Shannon's big day.
Even though it wasn't ideal, Shannon was a good sport and decided to make the most of the situation. He released a new shirt that says, "When life has you upside down, turn it around," with all proceeds benefiting the Boys and Girls Club. How great is that?! I love it!
All of us can relate to something not going according to our plan, and oftentimes, life is "upside down" in a much worse way than his jersey was.
How do we respond in small and big "upside down" situations? Do we look for ways to turn negatives into positives? More importantly, do we look to God and trust Him to turn our upside-down circumstances around?
Throughout the Bible, we see God turning around seemingly hopeless and impossible situations into something good. Oftentimes, things don’t seem right, they don't make sense, and life is "upside down" for people. However, we serve an all-powerful God who redeems and turns things around.
The following two verses point to this:
"You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people" (Genesis 50:20; NLT - the story of Joseph).
"But the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam; instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loved you" (Deuteronomy 23:5; ESV).
Today, if "life has us upside down, let's turn it around." Or, as Romans 12:21 (ESV) puts it, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
As followers of Jesus, we know God is the One making things right and good, and we can trust Him and the promise of Romans 8:28 (ESV): "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."
I'm Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help me not to be discouraged when life seems upside down and things aren’t going my way. Show me how to look for the positive in the situation, and I trust that you will work things together for the better. Thank you for Your redeeming power and love. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
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