Defeat

She has been practicing most of her life but especially for the past four years to
seek the gold medal in snowboarding at the winter Olympics. She did great on the first run but had a balancing mishap that sent her skirting the out of bounds marker in the second run of the semi finals that disqualified her. Her competition chances for the 2010 Olympics had ended.

We, as spectators could just move on to the next event. But Lindsey, an American contestant had to live with that defeat. The event was over but the disappointment and anguish of defeat would linger, I am sure for a long while.

While none of us are contenders for the Olympic games....we all have experienced defeat at one time or another and in one life event or another.Some defeats we carry with us daily, others we are able to dismiss while still others continue to impact us in a positive way because of the lessons that we have gained from them.

We watched and waited to see last night how Lindsey would handle defeat....just as people are watching us and wondering how we will handle it...when it comes our way. We have a choice ....do we turn our defeat over to God and let Him use it for His good...or do we let it fester and rot out our desire to carry on?

God is on "board" to counsel us ...but we must seek his word...seek his presence, seek his wisdom...and most of all seek to adhere to His example. God is there to pick us up when we have been defeated...to give us strength when we are just empty of motivation...and to give us a hope of a new day...His way. It is sometimes hard to let a defeat go...but as long as we are hanging onto it...our hands and hearts are not free to grab onto the "something good" that God is sending through it. It may be a lesson...it may be a change...it may be just an eye opener for us to seek to know Him better.

I looked up bible verses on defeat...and there are 77 of them...but his particular one grabbed my attention becasue of the first five words.....In the Course of TIME..

1 Chronicles 18:1
In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its surrounding villages from the control of the Philistines.

David was a metaled soldier of God's army....not becasue he personally was so agile and gifted in battle...though I am sure he was... but becasue the fights he fought were God's battles...for God's glory....and for God's purposes. .

But David's victories were over the course of time....they did not happen all at once and there were most certainly obstacles and defeats along his way...and in between....but God's ultimate victory is declared throughout the bible and all who love him, believe in his son Jesus and are fighting battles with God as an adviser are too guaranteed victory in the course of life.

Defeat is temporary...and quite often a stepping stone to lessons that will guide us to victory in the course of our lives. We are not called ot sit and ponder the disappointments and lost battles...we are to learn from them...and grow strong from them and use them to fortify us for the course of time...

Just as these Olympic athletes have designated courses that they must stay within the bounds of...so must we who are followers of God stay within the bounds of the course that God has designated and determined. Unlike earthly competitions, we don't have to be "first" to achieve the victory that God has promised...we just have to be steady in faith.

The theme of victory is stated only 39 times in the bible...which makes me think that God knew that in this world we would be faced with many battles...and victories are not so easy to come by...but if we stay the course ...God's course...and we have the faith to believe that God will see us through any challenge or any disappointment or any direct hit that someone else has made upon us....GOD WILL BE FAITHFUL....and WE WILL BE HIS WINNERS...for HIS Glory.. in the course of TIME.

We are going to be defeated along the course of life....we already have experienced them...but defeats are what God sometimes uses to get our attention, to get us to change courses, and to help us better focus on His values rather than our own. The ultimate victory of our course in life lies in our relationship with Christ.


1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord, we all are fighting battles...some just seem to be overriding and there is no apparent way to succeed through our disappointments, our sorrow, our grief, our weaknesses...but through you. Help us to accept the strength that you offer, and help us to hold onto a faith in you with tightened fists...knowing that in You there is no defeat. Amen


Praise God wherever you are or whatever situation he has allowed you to be in...for His glory will shine through.

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