We have just begun the exciting season in College Basketball known as March Madness. The NCAA Tournament began last Thursday where the #1 seed teams play the #16 seed teams in their respective brackets. Every now and then you get a major upset. Such was the case last Thursday when #16 University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) upset #1 University of Virginia (UVA). The really amazing thing about it is that the game wasn’t even close. The UMBC Retrievers crushed the UVA Cavaliers by a score of 74 - 54.
I am especially interested in this game since UMBC is scheduled to play my Kansas State University (KSU) Wildcats in the second round. While I am happy for the Retrievers’ win over Virginia, I am hoping their upset streak ends once they take the court against the Wildcats.
Stories of major upsets are interesting. If you enjoy reading such stories, look no further than the Bible. Narratives that come to mind include --
God loves to defy the odds! So He choses the powerless to overcome the powerful, and the things the world considers foolish to put to shame that which the world considers wise. God sometimes allows situations to go far into the realm of the impossible before He works.
Such was the case of the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11). Upon receiving word that Lazarus was sick, Jesus waited. As a matter of fact, He waited until Lazarus died and had been dead for four days! Have you ever wondered why? Clifton Slater pointed out in a recent board meeting devotional that according to popular Jewish belief resurrection was no longer possible on the fourth day. In biblical times many Jews believed that after death the soul would hover over the body trying to get back in for a period of three days. The soul would then depart to the next life making resurrection impossible. That explains why Jesus waited until the fourth day. He was letting the situation move from impossible to beyond impossible! So it was that standing at the tomb of Lazarus on the fourth day, Jesus pulled off one of the greatest upsets in history.
If you ever find yourself hopelessly outnumbered by troubles, or in a situation that has gone from bad to worse, do not fret! The God we serve is known to pull off some amazing upsets. Keep believing, for as the prophet Jeremiah declared, “Nothing is too hard for You!” (Jermiah 32:17)
Pastor Todd Weston
I am especially interested in this game since UMBC is scheduled to play my Kansas State University (KSU) Wildcats in the second round. While I am happy for the Retrievers’ win over Virginia, I am hoping their upset streak ends once they take the court against the Wildcats.
Stories of major upsets are interesting. If you enjoy reading such stories, look no further than the Bible. Narratives that come to mind include --
- An eighty-year-old shepherd name Moses toppling the mighty Egyptian Pharaoh
- Joshua and the Children of Israel taking down the stronghold of Jericho with a shout
- Gideon defeating the massive army of Midian with three-hundred unarmed men
- Young David overcoming the Philistine champion Goliath with a sling and five stones
- Elisha and his servant prevailing against the surrounding Syrian army
God loves to defy the odds! So He choses the powerless to overcome the powerful, and the things the world considers foolish to put to shame that which the world considers wise. God sometimes allows situations to go far into the realm of the impossible before He works.
Such was the case of the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11). Upon receiving word that Lazarus was sick, Jesus waited. As a matter of fact, He waited until Lazarus died and had been dead for four days! Have you ever wondered why? Clifton Slater pointed out in a recent board meeting devotional that according to popular Jewish belief resurrection was no longer possible on the fourth day. In biblical times many Jews believed that after death the soul would hover over the body trying to get back in for a period of three days. The soul would then depart to the next life making resurrection impossible. That explains why Jesus waited until the fourth day. He was letting the situation move from impossible to beyond impossible! So it was that standing at the tomb of Lazarus on the fourth day, Jesus pulled off one of the greatest upsets in history.
If you ever find yourself hopelessly outnumbered by troubles, or in a situation that has gone from bad to worse, do not fret! The God we serve is known to pull off some amazing upsets. Keep believing, for as the prophet Jeremiah declared, “Nothing is too hard for You!” (Jermiah 32:17)
Pastor Todd Weston