Tilting the odds

Once again I lay my ignorance of the game of football on the line. Officianados could bore you to tears with technical debate abut the nuances of what is called "the beautiful game" and I have no truck with that. I respect its place in our culture and dare not ignore the sheer magnitude of the game. 

However, as an aloof observer I can't help feeling that scoring is a lottery. A team visits its opposition goal area and takes a pot shot or two, with a generally low ratio of success, then they all go and camp on the other side of the field to allow the opposition their chance to have a go. That is over-simplifying the issues a bit, but it certainly looks that way. Scoring is a lottery, a pitching of odds that tilt in the favor of the attacking team under very trying circumstances.

The trick is to minimise the odds of the opposition scoring, through solid defence and effective goal keeping. At the same time, knowing that attack is the best form of defence, a team must tilt the odds of scoring in its own favor, by retaining possession of the ball, spending more time in the goal area, whilst positioning players as favorably as possible and ensuring as many shots on goal as possible. Other aspects that tilt the odds are fitness, agility, knowledge of the rules, avoidance of penalties and referee management.

All of this is analogous to life - life is somewhat of a lottery, where few score for all the opportunities that come their way. The only way to tilt the odds in your favor is to focus on what you do, do it exceptionally well and keep on doing it until it pays off - forget luck, rather know that the harder you try the greater will be your opportunities.

I am a spiritual man, so this advice confronted my sensibilities, until it sunk in. The secret is to stop waiting for miracles, which are rare and unpredictable. Rather discern what God is calling you into and pursue that with all your heart - don't turn left or right and never look back, for, as we read in Hebrews 10:38, "God will not delight in the soul that draws back". 

As you stick to a narrow focus and pursue it, you will eventually shift the odds in your favor and come to that elusive titling point that many of the great biblical figures came to - Esther was told, "were you not born for a time such as this" and David spent years preparing to fling a stone, which prepared him for his own appointment of destiny. God will favor you if you persist, but He will never delight in double-mindedness.

(c) Peter Eleazar @ www.4u2live.net