God's Coaching #174

God's Coaching #174

The goal didn’t count! In a heartbeat, the US Men’s National Soccer Team went from joyfully celebrating a 1–0 lead against Algeria to frustrated disbelief. Millions of fans around the world howled as replays clearly showed that the referee’s offside call was wrong. On the world’s biggest stage—the World Cup—the American team had suffered from a refereeing mistake . . . again. Five days earlier, a different referee called a “mystery” foul against the Americans that disallowed a winning goal. Now with this bad call, it appeared as if the US team would be going home. The United States needed to beat Algeria to advance to the next round of the 2010 World Cup. A loss or a tie would send the Americans out of the tournament. It seemed that everything was going against them.

Instead of giving up, the Americans attacked the Algerian goal. They fired shot after shot—but each one missed, bounced off the goalpost, or was saved by the Desert Foxes’ goalkeeper. Time was running out. Fans were desperate. Failure was looming. The clock ticked past the 90-minute mark and into four minutes of extra time allowed because of earlier injuries. The Algerians created a good scoring chance, but US goalkeeper Tim Howard made the save and quickly threw the ball to Landon Donovan. Landon dribbled down the right side of the field. He passed to Jozy Altidore, who crossed it to Clint Dempsey in the center. Clint fired, but the Algerian keeper blocked the shot. The ball rebounded to the center of the box, where Landon sprinted in and shot. Goooooal!

What’s the Score?

The Americans did it! They refused to give up even when things weren’t going their way. The players had devoted the past four years toward achieving their dreams, and their perseverance paid off.

It’s easy to get discouraged when circumstances aren’t going our way in a game, at school, in friendships, or with life in general. Even when we’re trying our hardest, we sometimes face struggles that we can’t control. The Bible tells us that’s the time to thank God and keep going (Romans 5:3). To persevere means to keep trying to reach our goal no matter what obstacles we face. The good news is that God has promised to help us. And the more we keep going, the stronger we get.

On the Ball

What challenge are you facing? Do you feel like you’ve been treated unfairly? Ask God for the strength to keep going.

Coach’s Comment

We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:3-4 (NIV)