When my oldest son was an eighth grader, his football team had a very successful season. However, one evening, he came home in a blue funk. Typical mom, I asked him, “What’s the matter? You won the game!”
“Yeah, we won, but Coach yelled at us. He said that we should always run to the line of scrimmage, whether we were winning or losing. He said the game is never over until the last whistle blows, and we need to finish strong.”
That conversation took place a long time ago, and unfortunately, his high school seasons were not nearly as successful. However, the lesson is as true today as it was that fall evening. Like football, life isn’t easy. We determine whether we finish strong or trudge on, just hoping to finish.
As a young person or young adult, you may have your first encounter with harsh reality. As a middle-aged -adult, you may wonder if you have taken the right path. As a senior adult, like myself, you may wonder what new struggle awaits. Sometimes both the starting line and the finish line appear to be a long way off.
We would all agree that the last several months of 2020 have been difficult, and I doubt if any of us would want to replay the life game of the last few months. We are ready to establish a new normal and do it now! However, God commissioned us to run the race until we reach the finish line.
The writer of Hebrews tells us, “Let us run the race with endurance that God has set before us.” We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, even when the world seems to turn upside down.
Wherever you are in life today – struggling with a school year, facing challenges at home, in health, or in finances, or just needing to get to the line of scrimmage one more time, let me challenge you to depend on God to call the plays. You can’t ask for a better Coach.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished
the race, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7 NIV