I'm not a golfer, but my dear hubby is. Before he and I were married, I used to think that the most boring sport to watch...ever...was golf. In fact, I would have likened it to watching grass grow, that's how much I was really into it.
But as a newly wed, I used to join my dear hubby at the crack of dawn (it seemed like) every Friday morning to walk eighteen holes.
That's right. Not necessarily to play. But boy, I could be one aweseome cheerleader out there. And over time, the game of golf actually grew on me.
This last weekend was the Master's tournament; and like any fan of golf, we recorded every day's match to rewatch in the evening. Many of the participants were actually quite familiar, and there were a few we speculated who could really come away with the two million dollar prize money.
I know...my mouth fell open, too, when I heard that figure.
But as the tournament progressed from Thursday, to Friday, and then into Saturday, a young man who was essentially a nobody was actually hanging right near the top of the leaderboard. Wouldn't you know it, instead of rooting for someone whom we were familiar with, my dear hubby and I found ourselves rooting for this no-name underdog.
I do that alot actually, March Madness? I'm rooting for the team whom nobody suspected would go as far as they did. Super Bowl? The team who was creditted as being the least likely to win anything but somehow worked the hardest to get to that coveted championship game gets my vote.
Every. Single. Time
You see, I have this thing for the underdog. I may not know anything about their background, where they came from, or what they're going to do once their moment in the spotlight is over with; but boy, oh boy...I sure want them to fight to the end and come out victorious when it's all said and done. I've even lost my voice a time or two cheering a team on. (i.e. Gonzaga's buzzer-beater three point to win over UCLA during the Final Four)
The Apostle Paul likened the Christian life to running a race. And as impressive as his service for the Lord had been in his lifetime, he never counted himself to have apprehended, or grasped the prize. His prize, he realized, would come once he went on home to heaven. Instead he wrote: this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God. (Phil. 3:13-14)
The race is filled with hazards, hardships, obstacles, twists, turns, exhaustion, and much more. Just when you feel you've gotten into a rhythm and your breathing has evened out, something crosses your path to disrupt your concentration, maybe cause you to stumble, throw you off your game. Then you realize just how exhausted you feel and how hard it is to just put one foot in front of the other.
But remember who you were when you came to Jesus? You were essentially a no-name, an underdog. Now here you are a child of the King. There are others here on earth and those in heaven who are cheering you on. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. (Heb. 12:1)
Don't give up! Don't quit! Re-tie those shoe laces, down some water, wipe the sweat off your brow, tighten your ponytail, and get yourself running!
You. Can. Do. It!
Simply Rooting for Underdogs Everywhere,
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