God's Football Game

If today’s spiritual world were a football game, right now it feels like we’d be in the fourth quarter, down by one touchdown, with seconds to go, no more timeouts left. It’s demons versus angels, and the refs have been making bad calls benefitting the demons the whole time. The odds in Vegas are overwhelmingly in favor of the demons, and the entire game seems rigged. In fact, some of the fans have already left the game, unable to stomach another painful loss. Fights are breaking out in the stands as people argue about who’s to blame. The demons have the ball, and they’re in a fierce drive down the field. A win for the angels, at this point, would take a miracle.

Today’s world can feel just as hopeless, and everywhere you look, there are more reasons to worry. Violence has found its way into every area of human life, even schools. Cheating and stealing are commonplace. Divisiveness seems to be the baseline behavior for many political and social movements. The country is in massive debt, teetering on the edge of financial collapse. World War III looms over the globe as a real possibility. The famous Doomsday Clock is currently at 89 seconds to midnight.

But I think all of this is just a setup for the greatest story ever told. I’m certain that almighty God is the ultimate author of creation, and he loves a happy ending. God is still on the throne and still in charge of the story, no matter how hopeless it may seem to us. The truth is we don’t know where we are in the story. We don’t know how many chapters are left in the book or what’s going to happen on the next page. What we do know is that God is the beginning and the end. God is loving, and God’s narrative is one we can trust. For every gloomy reason to worry, God has infinite ways to solve the problem. Our job is to keep our hearts filled with hope and move through our lives with faith and trust, especially when it’s difficult.

These are the true fans, the ones who have hope, even when it’s difficult. In the stadium, amidst the ones who are worrying, arguing, or leaving early, are the faithful. These are the ones who have enjoyed every minute of the exciting game, no matter what the scoreboard said. Their trust never faltered. Their belief in a victory is stronger than ever. Their hearts are true, their joy, certain. No matter what the odds are, they still believe in their team. No matter how tense things get, they appreciate the game. They’ve almost gone hoarse shouting “Go, angels, go!” And they definitely believe in miracles.

Suddenly, there’s a fumble. A maneuver on the part of the demons backfired, and the angels have possession of the ball. The crowd goes wild, hearts pounding. They rise to their feet in wild anticipation. The angel who picked up the ball is flying down the field to the deafening sound of the crowd’s exuberant shouts of joy.

This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for—God’s victory. How long would we all wait for such a moment? How much is it worth? How much would we endure? How much faith and prayer and hope does it take to keep believing? How much effort is it worth to be wearing God’s jersey on the day God’s victory comes?

This is why we are here, to be a part of this exciting game and to see how strong our faith is. The stakes are high, the outlook, uncertain, but these are the times we find out just what we’re made of. These are the times we find out who still has hope, who can carry a smile on their faces and a prayer in their hearts despite seemingly impossible odds. These are the moments, when it is the most difficult to keep believing, that we must stay true to goodness and truth. We don’t know God’s game plan, but now is the time to believe, with all our hearts, in God’s victory. Now is the time to stand up and cheer: Go, angels, go!