In God, you cannot lose

We have all seen that game. The one where someone misses a shot at a pivotal moment and goes on to lose a consequential match. The player recognizes the significance of the moment and buries his face in his hands, violently throws a racket to the ground, or, in some team sports, the coach simply takes him out of the game.

Few things match the intensity of the emotions we experience when we lose or think we’ve lost. We feel a combination of frustration, hopelessness and fear, all simmering in a thickening soup of self-doubt. The feeling cripples us and makes decision-making difficult. We are especially vulnerable to the feeling when we are going through tough times and find ourselves wondering if our lives would have been better had we seized that job opportunity or relationship or made that shot. Left unchecked, the thought can overwhelm us to the point where we come to believe we have already lost and our lives will never be as good as we imagine they could have been.

The Bible reminds believers that they are in God—they live in him, move in him, and have their being in him (Acts 17:28). And, because God is always above all things (Jer. 10:6; 1 Chron. 17:20), believers can’t lose if they remain in him. Even in death, the most profound of human losses, believers don’t lose (Phil. 1:21) because death is not above God (Acts 2:24).

So, if you are a Christian struggling with feelings of loss today, look up and keep hoping because your losses are temporary. The game is not only not over, it is also rigged. No matter what happens, you win.