Tonight I’m going to a Jr. High basketball game at Washington Court House to watch my grandson play. He plays on the eighth grade squad and they have the ability to develop into a team. I recognize, however, that the visiting team has qualities even though I root for the home team. For me, it will be a good evening. I realize that it is not that way with everyone. The losing team can be very disappointed while the winning team celebrates. Many of the parents and fans watching the games react in the same way. Looking back, I realize that adversity made us a better basketball team.

Life is a series of winning and losing. No one wins all of the time, and even though it may not feel like it to some, no one loses all of the time. I have had some tough times and have had many really good times in my personal life and so have you. Life changes like the seasons of the year. Everything is in the cycle of life.

Most people have heard Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to reap; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to weep, a time to laugh; a time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, a time to refrain from embracing; a time to gain, a time to loose; a time to keep, a time to throw away; a time to tear, a time to sew; a time to keep silent, a time to speak; a time to love, a time to hate; a time of war, a time of peace.”

Every one of these seasons in our life pertains to us as individuals. If we make an honest self-evaluation, we will kill the things in us that are destructive and hate those choices that are ruining our lives as we fight the wars that are in our own spirit; not a war with other people.

The one thing that is always true is that seasons come and go. We are now in the Christmas season and it is a time for celebration of the birth of the Messiah. He has brought to every one of us the ability to live life to the fullest. In this physical world we will win some and we will lose some; but if we allow the Messiah to guide our lives, every loss will be a stepping stone to victory. That is a win-win!

These are the things we explore at the Gathering Place every Wednesday evening at 7 and Sunday morning at 9:30 and 10:30. We have Youth Group with Youth Pastor Jeremiah Truex, and First Steps Recovery Sunday evening at 6. We would love to have you join us.