Thanks to my generous cousin Ned, I had tickets to the Florida-South Carolina game.  Thankfully, the tickets were in the Florida section, so I did not stick out quite so bad when I cheered for Florida.   

It was an entertaining game.  I often tell people I wish every game were a blowout – with my team doing the scoring.  It rarely works out that way, and it surely didn’t Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium.    

Both teams had no defense to speak of.  Both quarterbacks had stellar performances.  Both teams made some impossible plays.  Twice, Florida converted on fourth down deep in their own territory to keep drives alive.  There was only one interception on the next to the last play of the game.   

It was the kind of game you couldn’t leave.  You had a feeling whoever had the ball last was going to win.  It almost worked out that way.  You had to stand up most of the game because other people were standing in front of you, and you didn’t want to miss a moment. 

It was a shame South Carolina lost.  I like their coach and their quarterback.  He doesn’t quite have all the pieces in place yet.  The coach at Florida is new, too.  The challenge of college football today is getting the right players on the bus and keeping them.  It looked like Florida had the edge when compared to South Carolina, but not by much.  But if someone had to lose, I was glad it was South Carolina (sorry to all my friends and church members who are South Carolina fans). 

I find myself wishing sometimes my life was an easy game.  Who wouldn’t wish for easy touchdowns and weak opponents?  Maybe that happens for some people, but not for anyone I know. 

Even Christians have troubles.  Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble…”  I have to admit some of my troubles I inflict on myself.  But other troubles seem to just happen.  A Florida player made an amazing catch during the game.  The South Carolina defender that was right there made the right play.  Somehow, the Florida player caught the ball.  Sometimes, trouble finds you. 

Some days, I do everything right, and trouble still finds me.  I have four deadlines to meet, and someone in a crisis calls me.  I have to take that call, and now I still have deadlines and less time.  A bill gets accidentally thrown away, and the next thing I know, I receive an ugly, threatening letter.  I have to hurry to the bathroom on Sunday, and the next thing I know, someone has posted on Social Media that the pastor at Alice Drive ignores people at church.   

I once was reamed out by an upset family member for not visiting their loved one in the hospital.  I didn’t know the person was in the hospital.  When I shared this with her, she told me, “That doesn’t matter.  You should have known.”  This is what is known as being the target of opportunity. 

Like South Carolina, you can do everything well and still fall short because you just run out of time.  The temptation then is to go back over the game and second-guess every decision.  Or you review your schedule and try to figure out what you did wrong: “Well, I guess getting more than four hours of sleep was a mistake, and maybe eating lunch wasn’t a smart choice.”

Life seems to be like the South Carolina-Florida game.  It is a pitched battle, and you are never quite sure how it will turn out.   

If you are one of those who think life should be easy, it is not.  But remember the second part of what Jesus said: “In this world, you will have trouble; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”  The promise of Jesus is not that you will have a trouble-free life or that you will win every game.  It is in the end he wins.   

I think Jesus is reminding us that no matter how tough the game is, no matter how much it seems like we will lose, no matter how much we think we will win, the outcome is his.  Through his death and resurrection, he proves he overcomes the world.   

So be of good cheer.  You may lose some yardage, your defense may not play worth a hoot, and your opponent might catch the uncatchable ball.  You may struggle, you might get bruised, you might hurt from life.  Be of good cheer:  Jesus has overcome the world.