November 16, 2020 - Victory in Defeat (A Great Testimony)

As a coach and an AD I loved to play against tough competition… not just those we could have a good battle with, but also those that I knew were going to beat the crud out of us; in fact, I much preferred that to playing teams we would beat the crud out of. Simply put, from a coaching standpoint there was more to learn against the strong competition; and weak competition typically created poor habits because we could be successful on the scoreboard without being sharp… and even at times it created bad habits that wouldn’t work against the better competition.

The reason most people like to play the “creampuffs” is because of the false belief that the scoreboard is the measure of success. And in the spiritual world. We tend to have the same thought process… that blessings and success are only when we are in victorious situations.

Yet I believe that there is something to be said about finding victory in defeat… that one’s posture is more important than one’s place or position in the standings. In fact, I think one of the greatest ways the world can see God’s grace in our lives, is how we handle adversity.

I can remember telling one of my teams that was truly outmatched in many of our conference games, that we wanted to walk tall in defeat… to make sure the other team had respect for us even if we had taken a beating on the scoreboard. (One of my biggest frustrations is seeing athletes give up…)

Most of the time when I talk about this topic I talk about Paul. I love that he maintained his passion and purpose even in prison. Even when his chains were broken, he stayed in a bad place/position in order to make a difference… it is amazing that the other prisoners and jailers heard singing and rejoicing... attitudes (POSTURE) of trust in God’s plan over circumstances… One of my favorite quotes I have used over the years was from Phillip Yancey, who stated: “God and life are not synonyms!”

This all came to mind for me last week as my pastor was teaching on Joseph… this guy is one of the most celebrated men of the Old Testament… finding great success… yet his success was not always on the “scoreboard.” Genesis 39 tell us that “he was a successful man.” (verse 2) And later in the chapter it says that “whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.” (verse 23)

In verse 2 Joseph is a SUCCESFUL SLAVE and in verse 39 he is a PROSPEROUS PRISONER. Joseph’s PLACE/POSITION were not the indicators… it was his POSTURE. Joseph continued to trust and honor the Lord and in each of these situations it states “the Lord was with him.” (verses 2 and 23)

Joseph, like Paul, stayed focused on his PURPOSE and stood tall (POSTURE) for/with the Lord! This is victory even when the scoreboard says defeat…