Victory

 

One of my favorite sports movies of all time is “Hoosiers.” The film is very loosely based on “The Milan Miracle,” the story of the 1954 Milan High School basketball team from Indiana, which won the state championship on a last-second shot by Bobby Plump. In the town of Hickory, Indiana, basketball was idolized and, should any high school student not excel in the sport, well, they were considered less than complete. The town of Hickory was a fictional town based on the real town called New Richmond – population 333.

During that era, Indiana had no size classifications so the smaller schools competed head-to-head with the larger schools. Hickory’s team consisted of barely enough players to field a team and was struggling. To make matters worse, the principal of the high school had enlisted a disgraced college coach, Norman Dale, to lead the team. Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.

Against all odds (and being laden with personal baggage), Coach Dale convinces his rag-tag group of their potential to win. After making it to the state finals, the team enters the arena with stars in their eyes – greatly enamored with the size and splendor of the place where they would play in the championship game, Coach Dale pulled out a measuring tape and measured the height of the rim – the distance from the rim to the free throw line and a couple of other distances. He then told his team that it was just another court the same size as what they had been playing on all year.

They won the state championship against a large school which had been dominant in the state for years. When the game began it didn’t matter how large or small the schools were – it mattered only that there were five boys from each team playing on a level court.

While Saul was sitting at home, Jonathan assessed the situation facing Israel’s army. In I Samuel 13, we read that Saul had put together an army of 3,000 – 2,000 were with him and 1,000 were with Jonathan. With his 1,000 Jonathan battled a much better prepared Philistine garrison. As a result, “…The Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude.” (I Samuel 13.5) Being completely outnumbered and out classed, Jonathan moved by faith. “And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” (I Samuel 14.6)

Without promise of victory or help of any kind, Jonathan made a right decision. As Esther determined that whether she lived or died, she was chosen for a special purpose at a specific time in the history of her people. (Esther 4.14) As the three Hebrews, when faced with the fiery furnace heated by Nebuchadnezzar seven times hotter than normal, they were given no promise of earthly success or of survival. Jonathan decided to do what was right.

While we are not promised an outcome that is personally pleasing, we are assured that God is in control. The victory is always His and His alone. The size of the enemy (whether physical, spiritual or emotional – no matter what we face) does not matter in the grand scheme of things. We are expected to do right even though we are not necessarily promise personal victory.

We must claim with the Apostle Paul that, whether we live or die, we are in God’s hands. And, victory may not come in a shape we recognize immediately.

“For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” Romans 14.7, 8

 

FaceBook page: facebook.com/groups/265806577357176/
Website: firstemmanuelbaptistchurch.com