1 Peter 4:19

New Living Translation (NLT)

So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

For Meditation

It was crunch time. One hundred and twenty minutes of scintillating football had transpired – ninety minutes of regular time and thirty minutes overtime. Legs were tired and bodies, exhausted with running all night long. But, there was no goal to show on both sides. As mandated by FIFA, the two teams went into a penalty shootout to determine the nation that would lift the coveted Copa America cup for 2016. The two Captains met the officials to set the stage. Argentina was the favorite team playing against the defending nation, Chile. It had come down to a classic repeat of the finals between the two nations in the previous tournament in which Argentina lost in a heartbreaking way. So this was revenge time.

A hush fell over the stadium as the Argentine goalkeeper took his position and the Chilean player stepped up for the first kick. The stadium erupted with cheers from the majority Argentine fans, as their goalie saved the first penalty kick. Hope and optimism skyrocketed. The cup was on its way to Buenos Aires. Argentina could savor it. And so their Captain stepped up for their first kick that would give them the needed advantage to protect for the win. He was no ordinary player. He was Lionel Messi, the world’s best footballer – the nimble-footed midfielder and a prolific goal scorer. In their semifinal match against USA, Messi had curled a spot kick, like Beckham, 25 yards into the upper right corner for a spectacular goal. So, how could anybody deny Argentina the advantage goal with Messi up for the lead kick? But as the Argentine fans spontaneously rose to cheer another brilliant goal from their captain, the ball flew off Messi’s foot and veered away from the goal post to the right. Chile was back on level terms and momentum had shifted in their favor. They went on to win the match to lift the coveted cup for the second time over Argentina. As the television camera focused on the world’s best player and captain of his national team, seated alone in his teams shelter with teary eyes and looking straight into space, this eternal truth dawned on me. Only God is invincible! Every human being is not.

God is the only One who will never fail us (1 Pt. 4:19). Everybody and everything else will (1 Kings 18:21). He is infallible, dependable, and trustworthy at all times and in every situation.

I pray you will realize that it is only in Christ Jesus that you can access all of these qualities of God. It’s because He is God, and Lionel Messi, like everyone else, is mere human.

So: May you call on no one at your crunch time, when everything is on the line and you need the victory, but Christ Jesus who has won it for you on Calvary; and may heaven and earth erupt with applause when you score the winning goal with Him.

Jesus is the only One who can assure us victory in every situation, over all things, and at all times.

Shalom