Response Is Everything

​Love you all, praying for you,
 
 
I just love God’s Word, it applies to real life.  It tells you what to do, when what you wanted didn’t happen.  Did your team lose this weekend?  Are you out of the hunt for the National Championship this year?  There’s a question to consider in every win or loss in life.  Do you live for the year? Or do you live for the legacy?   Never live just for the future, or you’ll miss the moment.  But if you only live for the moment, you’ll often be disappointed.  Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.  You want to win every game, every opportunity, every battle, and every trial.  But what if you failed this time?  First know.  Failure isn’t final.  How you respond is more important than what just happened.  Some things you can control, some things you can’t.  Some things you should have but you didn’t.  Failure comes for three reasons,  Your strategy, your effort, or your consistency were insufficient for success.  Sometimes you’re just outclassed.  You have a team of three star recruits playing a team of five star recruits.  The only way you’ll win is a fluke.  But that doesn’t mean you don’t play.  Flukes happen – especially when preparation meets opportunity.  If you play for the year, what happens this year may disappoint you.  Nothing wrong with disappointment, if you respond correctly.  If you play for the year, instead of the legacy.  You will be disappointed every year.  How many teams in college football?  A lot.  How many of them will lose this year?  Every single one, except the team that wins the National Championship.  Every other team will lose.  If you play for the year, your odds aren’t great.  But if you play for your legacy – you can succeed every year.  If nothing else, you can succeed in your response.  First how not to respond.  #1  It’s no big deal.  That’s a lie, it was, you failed, it was a big deal.  Don’t excuse failure, or it will become a habit.  #2  Blame others -  those refs were terrible.  Yeah, they didn’t tackle that guy that walked right into the end zone.  They didn’t make that key block, or catch the pass, or convert that 3rd down.  Refs have nothing to do with the outcome.  They’re as bad for the other team as they are for you.  And anyone who blames them, is living in the delusion, that exonerates themselves from their responsibility. If it’s not the refs, they’ll blame the sun, or the rain, or the snow, or the ball, or their coach, or their teammates.  No – it was you.  You didn’t do enough to win.  You didn’t prepare well enough, or execute well enough, or put in the required effort, or when it looked the worst, you didn’t believe you could win, so you were right.  And the number #3 way, not to respond.  Continue in the same patterns – that produced your current performance level.  If things are ever going to change, you are going to have to change.  So what response should you have in a loss of a game, or a loss in life?   #1 Congratulate the winner.  Be glad for them, they worked hard, or worked hard enough to beat you.  If you can learn to celebrate others’ success, it will demonstrate the character that wins in legacy.  This year will be soon forgotten, but your legacy lives forever – you take it with you the rest of your life, and when you’re gone, it will continue.  #2 Examine yourself – What could I have done better?  If you ask God, He’ll tell you, He knows, and more than anyone else, He wants you to do better next time.  #3 Be willing to change.  Whether change your goals, or your strategy, or your investments, or your effort or your consistency.  If you are willing to change, every loss can become a gain, every failure can lead to your victory, every loss can lead to your legacy.  And finally,  #4 Learn to build your faith.  First be careful what your faith is in.  God has good for you, and it’s not always what you think is good for you or the best, or the best time.  Second, let your words be faith and life.  Learn God’s Word and His Will - His plans for you which you can surely put your faith in.  And learn to speak your faith into reality.  You don’t need to win every game or every battle in life, to leave a legacy worthy of the God who saved you, and will lead you if you let Him.  In this season, fully do what He’s called you to do.  Keep your hand to the plow, and know that your faithfulness now, will result in a legacy that will give glory to Him, and will encourage others to put their trust in the LORD.  If your legacy is His legacy – it will be a legacy of winning, winning souls even more than winning games.  Games are temporary, people are eternal. 
 
Love you all,
dad