Are You Winning God’s Way?
I am really competitive. I love to win. I love a good game where both sides are evenly matched and it goes back and forth and comes down to the last second. On the other hand, I had a friend who was just as competitive, and he loved it if the other team’s best player was out. That meant he would be in a better position to win. He lived by the saying, “It’s not enough that I succeed, others should fail.”
I giggle a little when I think about this guy but that is how a lot of us are, whether Christian or not. I can be in the process of doing exactly what my wife asked me to do, but I can see the stress lines on her forehead start to crease when I’m not doing it the way she would do it.
Winning our way
Have you ever been in a situation where what you want is biblical, right, and would be great for you and the world, but God just does not seem to cooperate? If you are like me, you have had a similar conversation with God, “God if you just let me win the lottery, I would start so many foundations and do so much good!” We want to win. But we do not want to go through the tough times, the misery and challenges, and heartaches. We want to win our way.
I do not want the back and forth game that builds character and shows who I really am. I want to blow the other team out and coast to the end and not break a sweat. Now, think of the hardest struggle you have had and how you did not see a way out. And behold you got out of the situation. But if God showed you what you had to endure to get there most people would opt out and say never mind. I do not want it.
Winning God’s Way
Successful people have had several businesses fail before they found a successful one. Some had 3 miscarriages before they got their first child. Some got fired from several jobs or got dumped several times before finding the right one. There is a saying, “if you want to know the easiest way to do something, ask the laziest person you know.”
Read: 4 Qualities of a Man that God can Use
For the most part, we want the easy way to the finished product but that is not how God wants us to win. He wants us to win and persevere. He wants us to come out better than how we started. Someone could give us a million dollars, but most would not value that as much as if you worked hard for it.
When we step outside the will of God and try to win our way we will fail. What is worse is sometimes we succeed for a little while. We gain a false self-confidence, and we fall into the select group of people who think they got here all by themselves. People forget about the wife who stayed up late with them making plans, the uncle who took them to all their games, the teacher who never gave up on them. They were more interested in winning their way instead of God’s way.
Winning God’s way looks different than the world. It requires mercy, patience, humbleness, grace, sympathy, and forgiveness. You should want to win and others to join in with you. Winning alone is very rare, but most do not like to share the glory when the victory is won. They like to act like it was all their blood, sweat, and tears. When I win, I like to go by the: God first, others second, I am the third mantra. If you follow that then I am positive that God will keep you in the winning column. Not our will but yours will be done.
When things are going good ask yourself “Do you want to win God’s way or do you want to win your way.” When things are going bad ask yourself the exact same thing. Change your perspective and keep your mind focused on Christ and one day you will hear him say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.” That’s a win in my book.
Prescott Williamson is a Bible-believing Christian. He is a husband, a father, and someone who believes that there is a little humor to be found in whatever situation God sends your way. He was born in the small islands of the Bahamas but now lives in the Suburbs of Fort Worth Texas, which is basically the same thing. He enjoys TV, reading, blogging and serving in his church (especially on the days they serve donuts). You can see what I have been thinking about lately on my blog www.prescottascoolbreeze.com.
