Refined by Fire
I play for a futsal team regularly on Tuesday nights. Apart from being my favourite type of cardio, it is also a great way to build good friendships with teammates that are outside of the church circle. Everyone in the team is courteous and most of the time show excellent sportsmanship. Most of the other teams we play against show a similar attitude.
But there is always bound to be a team that does not adhere to the shared code of sportsmanship. And our league has one such team. The players have very limited skills and try to make up for it by playing dirty and rough. It gets even worse when they are trailing on the scoreboard. They resort to elbowing, kicking of legs more than kicking of the ball, and constantly complain to the referee.
The temptation is to let them have a taste of their own medicine. And in the heat of the game, I must admit that at times I lost my cool (Lord have mercy) – especially in a recent game when one of their players committed an unnecessarily rough tackle on our youngest player. Despite praying before the game for me to exhibit a Christlike character, I came short this time.
I have always admired Bible characters like Joseph and Daniel for their resolve in sticking to their convictions amid trials. People around them were playing dirty and unfair games, yet they allowed their God to take charge. Jesus, without doubt, went through the toughest of toughest trials against the chief dirty player and the very people He came to save but came out victorious through submission to the Father.
Job, while going through much suffering caused by unseen forces, made a profound statement in Job 23:10: “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” There are a couple of much more serious trials in my life in my life right now than a few dirty futsal players (e.g. a lady driving onto my side of the road, causing a write off for my little Mazda3 and trying to avoid liability). With these other trials, I will submit them to God and know that He will come through.
“These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:7
