Winning and Losing

When I was in the seventh grade, I decided I might make a good student council member since I was a quick thinker and enjoyed working with others.  So, I made up colorful posters on construction paper (nothing too fancy…it was junior high, after all) and placed them around the Junior High School building in hopes that someone might  vote for me.  When the voting confirmed the fact that no one even knew who I was (except for a few classmates who recognized me as a the mousy girl in the corner who always knew the answer), I tumbled quickly into a pit of adolescent angst.  “I’m such a loser,” I moaned.

The choice of the people is a cruel way to make decisions.  Well, at least that was my conclusion at the age of thirteen.  I wish I could say that seventh grade was my only experience at losing, but God provided a few more opportunities for my pride to be bruised and my perspective to be changed.  I guess it’s a lesson I’ve needed to learn more than once.

Sometimes, it’s easy to view the world in clear cut categories; the blue team vs. the red team , winners or losers, or the good guys vs. the bad guys, but God says differently.  When I open up the Word of God, I see a refreshingly different perspective on everything from adolescent angst to national politics or world affairs.  Here are a few things that guide me away from the winning and losing mentality and into an eternal perspective:

1.  In God’s Kingdom (the real, true, lasting, forever kingdom), there’s no winners or losers.  There’s only one side to choose:  GOD’S.  Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

2.  I’m not in charge.  I can only do what God asks me to do, stepping out in faith and then I have to stop trying to control the situation and allow God to be in control.  Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

3.  This isn’t the end of the story.  Circumstances may cause me to feel like a failure today, but the truth is, the end of the story will be quite glorious.  When I keep my eyes on the struggles of today, I’m forgetting that eternity stretches on forever and someday I’ll be with Jesus, never again  questioning if I’m a winner or a loser, because I’ll be totally confident in His love for me. 

So, for today I choose to rest in God’s sovereignty and trust in His plans and when I fall down flat on my face, I’ll remember not to call myself a loser, because in God’s kingdom I’ve already won BIG time.  I’ve won an eternity with Him!

Come visit me…

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