Losing, Part II

“Is there anything to gain from losing?” After watching the three football teams I love lose this past weekend, that was the thought in my mind this morning. I was trying to formulate an article for NFLFemale.com as the Official Fan Reporter for the Jacksonville Jaguars and once again, I found myself grasping for something positive to say about the team’s latest embarrassing loss. “There must be something positive that comes from this type of adversity,” I thought. Fortunately, today was the day when I would read Romans 8 as part of my devotion time.

I still didn't come up with much positive to say about the Jags, but God opened my eyes and my heart to how losing can really be a sign of winning. Romans 8:17-18 (MSG) says, “We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him! That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times.” The rough times of life--the times when we give our all, but circumstances do not seem to go our way--those times are going to happen. In those times, we may feel like losers. But, as joint heirs with Christ, we will go through suffering because this world is not our home. In times of suffering, we can still have peace in knowing that there are better times ahead. And, this is not about the temporal “good times” the earth has to offer; this is about eternal peace and prosperity.

If you are saved, no matter what trials you go through on this side of Heaven, NOTHING can separate you from the love of God (more Romans 8 wisdom). Every loss that you endure is worked out for your good by the God that you love (more Romans 8 wisdom). You just might lose “your life,” you know, the life you thought you would have by now. I know that I have lost mine. I thought I would be sending my youngest baby to pre-K this year, working as an entertainment attorney, and being a loving wife to my fabulous husband. That was the life I envisioned, and when I stack that life up against my current life, the world might call me a loser. But, I’ll take that loss in exchange for the peace in knowing that a mighty and powerful God holds my life in His hands and He always wins. And, because I am His child, when I surrender and lose myself in Him, I am a winner; not just now, but forever and ever.

So, yes, there is plenty to gain from losing, maybe not for my team, but certainly for the child of Christ. I am a LOSER! I am lost in the depths of God’s love and in the height of Jesus’ sacrifice and in the breadth of the Sprit’s wisdom. Losing! Ms. EV