September 21 - On The Verge Of Victory

On The Verge Of Victory

“My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed: I will sing and give praise.” Psalm 57:7

John Greenleaf  Whittier famously wrote, “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.”  The inability to persist when a person is right on the verge of victory has halted everyone at one time or another.  History is replete with stories of those that followed through and those that did not.  The sports world is, as well.

Mario Lemieux, because of his tremendous courage to fight Hodgkin’s Disease and his incredible skill in the sport of ice hockey. He is a model of persistence in the face of adversity. Born in Canada, Lemieux led the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Stanley Cup Championship title in 1991 and 1992. The Montreal native dropped out of school at the age of 16, a year after joining Montreal’s, Laval Voisin,  junior hockey team. In 1984, the Pittsburgh Penguins, then in last place, made Lemieux  the first selection in the NHL draft.

In his first year with the Penguins, Lemieux won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year and his first Most Valuable Player award in the NHL All Star Game. He played an important part in the team’s gradual improvement in league standings and his performances drew increased attendance at games. In the 1987- 1988 Season, Lemieux overtook Canadian hockey star, Wayne Gretzky’s NHL High Scorer Title (for one season) by scoring or assisting in more than half of his team’s 319 goals. Lemieux won the Hart Trophy for that season’s Most Valuable Player, and was the "Sporting News" Player of the Year. He repeated as Scoring Champion in 1989.

In 1991 and again in 1992, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup, and Lemieux was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy two years in a row as The Most Valuable Player in the Playoffs. In the 1991-1992 Season, Lemieux also led the league in scoring, with 44 goals and 87 assists. In February of 1993, well on his way to another scoring title, Lemieux began to experience a numbing pain in his back. Upon having a MRI, it was discovered that he had cancer. He left the team to undergo treatment for Hodgkin’s Disease. A little over a month later, he rejoined the Penguins in March and, despite missing 24 of the season’s 84 games, he won the Art Ross Trophy as Leading Scorer for the season. His illness caused him to miss the entire 1994-1995 Season. He would come back for the 1995-1996 Season and retire a year later. Yet it took unbelievable courage to return to the NHL, even after cancer.

The Bible is full of people who hesitated at the edge of greatness and succumbed to failure:

Lot’s Wife -- A look back changed her into a pillar of salt.
Demas -- He hesitated too long with a lasting look at this present world.
Agrippa -- Almost persuaded and allowed his soul to slip out of that conviction.
The Rich Young Ruler -- He stopped short of the greatest commandment.
Absalom -- The man who died gambling with the final decision.
Balaam -- The man who grew confident in his backslidden state.

But the embodiment of persistence does not come originally to us from the sports world. The sports world can only be a small mirror of what happens in the spiritual challenges that men will face. Caleb and Joshua were two men out of twelve who said that God would empower the children of Israel to take the land of Jericho. The other ten, were losers, men who said that the walls were too large and the giants were too big.

Israel had left the land of Egyptian captivity. After being captured for a little over 400 years, they came to a place called Kadesh Barnea.  Kadesh Barnea should have been a place of conquest, but instead it became a place of hesitation. They hesitated at the edge of greatness.

The twelve spies went to the land of Canaan. They admired the fruit that grew in great abundance. They admired the land and how comfortable that a home there would be. Yet, the fenced cities and the giants who inhabited them, terrorized their hearts.

But God would bring them full circle.  In Joshua 14:7, we read Caleb’s confidence in their second go-round.  “Forty years old was I when Moses, the servant of the LORD, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.”

Caleb’s words were not meant to please the crowd. They were received from his devotion to God and an understanding of the promises of God.

His persistence allowed him to experience the land God had promised so many years ago.  What about you?  Are you persistent?  Or have you allowed life to cause you to give in.  The path is littered with people who allowed obstacles and opponents to overwhelm them.  However, history records those who continued to press on.  Whatever is in your path, God will take you through it. 

Terry Risser

Reflections:

1)  What are your biggest obstacles right now?

2)  Ask God to help you see it as an opportunity to find victory.

Consider reading the Word today:

Copyright 2014- Terry Risser