The Joy of Defeat
Have you ever learned anything from winning? What do you gain when things always workout for you? What knowledge do you acquire from things always going your way? Don’t get me wrong. There is something wonderfully fantastic about winning. There is something delightful in things always going our way, or coming with great ease, but in reality, for most people, that is not real life, and if you’ve ever truly known the joy of defeat, you know what a blessing that lesson was.
This verse is one of my all-time favorites, not because I laugh and cheer with joy during difficult times (though maybe I should!), but because, as a former athlete, I can relate. This spoken of joy is not a joy that our worldly minds think of, but rather finding joy in our perseverance, our growth, and mostly, the knowledge that God (not us) is in control.
In this, I feel the world and the scriptures truly intersect. Michael Jordan, a world renown athlete who is known by even those who do not follow basketball, understood that without failure, there was no growth, no gain, no success. You see, this joy is deeper than any earthly joy you’ve felt. It is rooted in Christ and a wisdom from the Lord. It comes from only Him, and the knowledge that He is with you in whatever you may be going through, and the understanding that you are growing in Him. Without the cross, there is no hope. Without defeat, there is no glory.
Without death there is no life.