The Final Whistle Hasn’t Blown

Before we begin, a quick disclaimer: I know the rest of the world calls it football—as they should—but for the sake of simplicity, I’ll use soccer throughout this blog post.

I’m writing this while being amazed by the awe-inspiring beauty of the World Cup. As some of you might be aware, millions of viewers are watching eleven players carry the hopes of an entire nation onto the field. One by one, each losing team is sent home—but not before giving everything they have.

In one of those edge-of-your-seat matches, one thought kept returning to me: not one team walks onto that field expecting today to be their last match. Every single one steps onto the pitch believing they’ll be the ones lifting the trophy.

This year, we witnessed countries like Haiti, Cape Verde, and Mexico prove that, though they were viewed as underdogs, they were teams worth watching. They may not have advanced to the quarter-finals, but they showed the world they were far more formidable than many had expected.

Am I here to bore you with soccer? No.

But as I watched a team that had been dominated not only recover but win the match with only twenty minutes left to play, I couldn’t help but wonder what their “it factor” was. What kept them pressing forward when the scoreboard seemed to say otherwise?

See, after one goal, there’s still hope. Two goals down with less than twenty minutes left, the odds begin to shrink—or so I thought. Yet one thing never seemed to change: the reason they stepped onto that field in the first place. They refused to lose.

What does that have to do with us? I’m glad you asked.

Some of us give up too prematurely. We disqualify our future based on the current scoreboard.

How does that look for us?

The scoreboard may not be in our favor, but the final whistle hasn’t blown. The clock is still ticking, and the match is still being played.

We finally regain possession after months of discouragement. We counter with a free kick, reminding our souls that the God we serve is faithful to keep His promises. Before we can even celebrate, the enemy presses again. Though the scoreboard begins telling a different story, the clock is still ticking. There is still time to regain possession. There is still time to fight.

The pressure is relentless. The crowd grows louder. Every setback seems to echo the lie that we’ve already lost. But the crowd may be against us—the Coach hasn’t changed His game plan.

If I had a penny for every person in my circle right now who isn’t walking through a major life crisis, I’d be rich.

But just like that team refusing to let the scoreboard determine the outcome of the match, we must refuse to let our present circumstances dictate our expectation of victory.

No trophy has ever been lifted without enduring ninety exhausting minutes.

Sometimes, halftime isn’t evidence that the game is over—it’s an opportunity to make adjustments. Coaches remind their players of the game plan before sending them back onto the field.

God often does the same with us.

The problem is, we spend so much time watching the scoreboard that we forget to look toward the Coach.

In our defense, we are tired. Exhausted. Drained. The clock feels like it’s running out, and many of us have been running far longer than we ever imagined we could.

But the game is not over.

Train your eyes to look beyond the scoreboard. Train them to stay fixed on the Coach rather than on the growing list of attacks surrounding you.

Get your head back in the game.

Even if it feels like we’re going down, let’s go down fighting.

Unlike those soccer players, we know a secret: we’re playing the finals, and we’re not playing to discover who wins. We’re playing to remain faithful until the final whistle.

I leave you with this passage of Scripture:

“Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” And Elisha prayed, and said, “LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.” (2 Kings 6:16–17)

That is my prayer for us in this season:

Lord, help our unbelief. Open our eyes to see beyond the scoreboard. Teach us to keep our eyes on You, our Coach, trusting that even when all seems lost, You have already gone before us and dispatched Your heavenly army on our behalf. Give us the strength to remain faithful until the final whistle.

With love always

Chris