Fourth
1 Peter 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, 7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ: 8 whom not having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (ASV)
The toughest quarter is the fourth, when you have grass poking out of your helmet, blood stains on your britches, bruises and frogs up and down your arms and legs, and sweat-soaked everything. You’re out of wind, there’s a pulled muscle in your leg, it’s hard to see out of one eye, cuz you got something in it, and your tailbone is causing you to walk real funny since you fell on it. It just plain hurts all over to even move, and yet there is still a play to be played and a goal to be scored and defended. As the coach yells out, “Who owns the 4th quarter? We do!” you’re having a hard enough time just owning your next breath, let alone the next play.
So, what is it about the game of football that causes someone to actually look forward to this ordeal- to keep coming back for more? – Because there is a triumph waiting for those who can keep pressing on with energy and power through the final seconds. Even when the scoreboard says otherwise, there is triumph in the heart of the one who doesn’t give up, but keeps lining up and teeing off on the opposition. In fact, the greater the opposition and the greater the pain- the sweeter is the victory. It is in those moments that all the preparation is truly proven. Anyone can jump up and down and act like their big time at the beginning of the game, but it’s the ones who still believe it and act like it after some major contact that get to walk home with the ‘W’.
Hunter is playing on this ‘Extreme Flag Football’ team, where they’re starting this brand new approach to flag football. Instead of the normal flag rules where you’re barely allowed to make contact with the opposing team, they wear a helmet and shoulder pads and are allowed to make contact within certain guidelines. Their game this last Saturday was on a grass field that had been watered that morning after several days of rain, so water was standing all over the field, mosquitoes were buzzing and stinging, and players were getting soaked, bloodied and bruised. They played a team that hadn’t lost yet, talked a big talk, and generally went through all the motions of those who thought they were really something. As the game progressed, though, there was a gradual, but continual loss of the swagger. They never even were ahead; as Hunter’s smaller team never lost the energy, tenacity or the lead. How wonderfully sweet it was, especially in the fourth quarter against a dominant team, when it became apparent that victory was assured. Every owie just seemed to make it that much sweeter as it was just another part of proving that, for that day, they were the better team.
There is reason for great rejoicing, no matter the score, and no matter the swagger of the foe. In fact, the more banged up we may feel and the more obnoxious the opposition, the more raucous should be that rejoicing, because we’re in the fourth quarter and we know who wins. The greater the battle, the greater will be the proving of our preparation and our unstoppable pursuit of the prize. Before the very one who once laid claim on our life and even now wants nothing more than to stomp all over it, we can rise up as ‘more than conquerors’ (Romans 8:37).