God's Coaching #173

God's Coaching #173

When his final backhand mercifully landed in bounds, John Isner tumbled to the All England Club’s famed grass and lifted his weary arms in triumph. He had just won the longest tennis match in history. For 11 hours and five minutes, John, an American, battled Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in a first-round match during the 2010 Wimbledon tournament. It was an exhausting marathon that spanned three days thanks to two suspensions for darkness. Finally, on day three, John prevailed by the craziest tennis score ever seen: 6–4, 3–6, 6–7 (9–7), 7–6 (7–3), 70–68. Yes, that’s 70–68, because rules at Wimbledon state the final set can’t go to a tiebreaker and must be won by two games.

It sure took a lot of waiting and stamina to decide the winner. Consider these absurd statistics: A total of 980 points were scored in the match. The final fifth set alone took eight hours and 11 minutes, crushing the previous single-set time record of six hours and 33 minutes at the 2004 French Open. One sports physiologist estimated that John and Nicolas each ran the equivalent of 15½ miles and expended about 8,500 calories of energy—more than what it takes to run two full marathons.

What’s the Score?

Life often requires lots of spiritual stamina, or the ability to wait and endure hardship. By nature, we want things right away. We don’t like our dreams to be delayed. And we certainly don’t enjoy having to wait through difficult trials. But God often calls us to wait for his goodness. There are plenty of examples in the Bible: The Israelites waited through 400 years of Egyptian slavery and 40 years of wilderness wandering to reach the Promised Land. Abraham waited until he turned 100 before God gave him his promised son, Isaac.

Believe it or not, waiting is a good thing. As Micah 7:7 says, “I wait confidently for God to save me.” Waiting is God’s way of teaching us to trust in him. He knows if we receive everything we want immediately, we will quickly forget about him. So in his infinite wisdom, he often makes us wait for his goodness. Like John found out, waiting can be a very good thing!

On the Ball

Make a list of important prayer requests (not just toys or video games!), and ask God to fulfill those desires—if it’s his will—while helping you to wait for his answer. Keep the list and mark it down when God answers the prayer.

Coach’s Comment

As for me, I look to the LORD for help. I wait confidently for God to save me, and my God will certainly hear me. Micah 7:7