The movie “We are Marshall” tells the true story of Coach Jack Lengyel (played by Matthew McConaughey) who rebuilds the football program at Marshall University.  In 1970 (the year of my birth!) a plane crash killed seventy-plus members of the West Virginia-based Marshall football team, along with coaching staff, sports commentators and boosters.  After going through the A-list of coaching possibilities and being rejected, the university hires Jack Lengyel whose coaching motto was “Play until the whistle blows.”  Faced with thousands of folks wounded with grief, Lengyel leads them to discover that the most important thing for their university isn’t winning on the scoreboard, but playing the game. 
          I like this motto, “Play until the whistle blows” because it reflects one of the greatest Christian virtues—perseverance.  When faced with grief, the quality of perseverance is essential to our Christian growth and well-being.  You cannot control or superintend the circumstances, no matter how tragic, that cause grief in your life, but you can persevere through it and discover the powerful grace and sustaining strength of the Lord.  The Psalmist said, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me” (Psalm 23:4).  The Lord does not take us around grief, over grief, or under grief.  The Lord takes us THROUGH grief!
          In order to walk through the grief we need perseverance.  We need to “play until the whistle blows.”  Grief can cause us to feel like we are fifty points behind going into the last two minutes of the fourth quarter.  We feel like giving up and quitting.   Like the losing football player dejected because his team has been pummeled the whole game, we begin living life half-heartedly and lose our focus.  We need perseverance that grows out of a vibrant dependence in the power of the resurrected Christ.
          “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).  As followers of Jesus, we sometimes give up hope too easily.  The tests, trials, and temptations of life crush our faith and knock us down.  We begin to doubt whether God is strong enough to lift us from the pits of discouragement.  We question whether He has the power to bring us joy in the midst of the grief.  We wonder whether the hundreds of promises of peace, protection, and watchful care are true, or are they wispy religious dreams.  The storm of grief sweeps over us and instead of running to the refuge of God’s grace, we turn to false idols that are powerless to comfort us. 
          When we persevere we learn to wait on God, trusting in His power to rescue us in the most severe of circumstances and tragedies.  Athletes who quit playing before the whistle blows lose those few precious moments of opportunity they have to take advantage of their opponent.  We are to persevere and depend on God’s power until the day the trumpet sounds and Jesus returns.  Until we hear the sound of that last trumpet, we have to persevere in the game of life, and persevere for the glory of God.   We can persevere because “thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Cor 15:57)

Category : Tommy Talk