“Central stage“,”Star “,” Under the big lights“, “In The Spot Light”, “Contratado”, “Married “, “Winner “

Have you ever been there? Have you ever had a chance to be cheered up and applauded by fans? Have you ever won the great trophy? Recognized as a hero or celebrity even for a few moments? You remember? It felt good, didn’t it? As if life wasn’t so bad after all. You worked hard and you did it. You made the big catch. You are respected and admired. You earned the thrill of victory and that great feeling of worth. Maybe you wrote something and it got published. Maybe your child passed the grade and got that special award for excellence. We feel like winners in those moments. Everyone wants to be a winner and loves to win.

“Unaccepted“,”Humiliated “, “Throw“,”Thrown off“,”Fired“,”Divorced“,”Loser”

Have you ever been there? Has it ever been replaced? Have you had people who have rejected you or walked away disappointed? Have you ever been rejected and humiliated by people you love and respect? Have you lost to an opponent and suffered the agony of defeat? Losing is not fun. It is painful and embarrassing. No excuse is adequate to remove the sting of rejection. Few will boast of our loss of love or job. We don’t want to talk about our failures. The worst description of a person is being labeled a “loser.” Public exposure of our weaknesses and failures can be devastating and even lead to self-destruction.

“It’s not if they knock you down, it’s if you get up.” Vince lombardi

Life is like a game of points. We play to win. We want to score as many points as possible. There is nothing wrong in it. It is healthy to want to win. Maybe it’s to win in love or parenthood. Maybe it’s to earn that raise at work. Maybe it’s to win that customer. It doesn’t matter as long as we feel like we gain something. As long as we can enjoy that feeling of reward and praise, life is better.

That is why it is important to play a game where you think you can win. I’m sure I’m not going to play a round of golf against Tiger Woods. It would be great to beat him, but he’s too good. Since I don’t even play golf or like it, it would easily crush me. So, to save myself the humiliation, I will play a game that I am more confident in and hope to win. For example, I believe that I can be a good husband, so I will get married. I think I’m smart, so I’ll go to school and win a degree award. I think I’m a good billiard player, so I’ll join a league and maybe win a trophy. Then the scoreboard of my life will show that I am a winner. Maybe I won’t win everything but at least I will win something worthwhile.

“The battles of life do not always go to the strongest or fastest man. But sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can.” Vince lombardi

Some time ago I decided to join a sure winner. Christendom. I looked at the history and was convinced that this team was a winner. The head coach and owner, Jesus Christ, never lost a game. He was in some of the toughest battles in history and he always came out the winner. In fact, he predicted that His team would completely destroy all other opponents. So in 1981, not wanting to be on the losing side, I decided to join the team. Coach Christ had an incredible record. It was like the king of artists back. Here are some final scores when your team was way behind and overpowered, but your Saints still came out winners:

• Saint thrown to the lions. Final: Saint wins nothing lions.
• Saint sold as a slave and imprisoned. Ending: Saint wins all of Egypt and saves the nation of Israel.
• Santo captured and chained by 1,000 Philistine soldiers. Ending: Saint crushes the army with the jawbone of an ass.
• Saint died and buried in tomb for 3 days. Final: Saint rose from the dead and defeats the grave.
• Saints thrown into a furnace for execution. Final: the saints walk without a scratch and defeat their enemies.
• Saint whipped, beaten, crucified and died on the cross. Final: Santo was resurrected and defeated the power of death and Satan.

For the first few years, life as a Christian was great. I was honored to be part of a great force in humanity. He proudly wore the great uniform of Christianity. All the equipment of faith was given to me: helmet, breastplate, shoes, sword and shield. He was ready to fight the enemies of the faith. The coach paid me a lot of attention and encouraged me.

I constantly studied the Bible as my playbook on life. Some great veterans of the faith personally guided me. Very soon I got my own position on the team. He was teaching and recruiting new players to join. I was not intimidated by anyone I was up against. I shook the souls of rockers, punks, criminals, homeless people, friends, parents or anyone who crossed my path. I told them that if they didn’t join our team, it would be hell to pay. He had energy, enthusiasm, and spiritual strength. I also became proud, arrogant, and self-righteous.

I started to think of myself as better than other teammates and the coach didn’t like it. That’s when the game plan changed. They didn’t kick me off the team, but I was on the bench for a while. I also had to do some serious conditioning. Suddenly, I found myself divorced, lonely, and abandoned by my church. I lost my position as Director of Children. I lost my business, home, car, and almost all personal possessions. My father died, they sent me to jail, and I wrecked my car.

My daughters were sexually abused by my ex-wife’s new husband. I watched their hearts break as their mother spent the next 15 years in and out of prison, rehab, and 4 more marriages. My oldest daughter became addicted to drugs. My credit was ruined and I had to move into a small trailer. Then I lost my self esteem when I became unemployed a year ago. Two weeks before Christmas, my only form of transportation exploded for the second time in a year. I keep fighting bitterness, anger, and despair. Still, I participate in church practices. But now I have to practice forgiveness and compassion for everyone. Little by little I am healing from the wounds of my past. Jesus is not the nice and easygoing coach either. He drills me with humiliation. Most of life has been a constant diet of failure and loss of ground.

Still, some important points were scored over the years. After a short break I was able to regain a position as a teacher for some children on Sunday morning. In the last 10 years I received full custody of my four children. Now they go to college, they are stable and they are successful in school. My daughter got off drugs and became an amazing mother. All of that is great, but the game is different now.

My uniform is dirty with my own addictions. The storms of life drenched me in pain. My shoes are full of the mud of this world. My knees are scraped from countless hours of unanswered prayer. My shield has grown heavy and the enemy’s arrows hit me too often. The fans in my life are almost gone. Those who remain are shaking their heads in disgust. Some of my colleagues have deserted or resigned. Sometimes I say to the coach, “I can’t go to the coach. The enemy is too strong. I’m hurt and tired. Take me out. I think I’m causing the team to lose.” But he doesn’t listen to me. It just pushes me out. As if to say, “Get out Pellerin! Do your damn job and stop crying!”

So I go out. I look at the scoreboard and it says our team is losing 42 to 7 with a few minutes to play. The stands are almost empty now. Sometimes I get into fights when my opponent teases and laughs at me. They are already doing their victory dance. Now I’m just trying to survive the game, not even win. I can hear the crowd boo. I look at the coach on the sidelines. But it doesn’t even seem to be affected by the score. Not even a shudder. He is simply focused and stoic. It’s as if he almost enjoyed this kind of challenge. You’re just watching and waiting, maybe the right time. I don’t know what your plan is. He won’t tell me. But he is not upset at all. It’s strange, but he seems to have a slight smile on his face.

For us Christians, there is nothing easy about winning the battle of faith. But it is not our fight to win. “The battle is the Lord’s, and he will deliver you into our hands” 1 Samuel 17:47. I need to have enough faith in Jesus Christ, the head coach, to achieve this. He has never lost. In his mind, the game is already won. I need to have faith in that just like him. If I want to be a winner, I need to stay on the field and keep playing until the end. Never give up. It is my choice, but He will win with me or without me. At this point, I’m not sure of his game plan. It does not matter. All I know is that he will have His victory and be crowned “Lord of lords and King of kings” Rev19: 16. When this game is over, the scoreboard will read: “Every knee bent and every tongue confessed that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Philippians 2:10. That will require a tremendous comeback.