Cheering for the Underdog
We all love a good underdog story. It feels so good to see someone overcome their difficulties. We love that they succeed, even when people said they could not. I think most of us relate to those stories, because either we have overcome obstacles ourselves, or we are in the process of overcoming something now.
But today, I’d like us to look not at ourselves, but at the underdog, most of us know. It’s that person who has hindered their own life by bad choices, selfishness, greed, and jealousy. Because they live in pain and fear, they have hurt others to get what they want. They are blinded to much truth, so they won’t even admit their errors. They are virtually hopeless and imprisoned in their ignorance.
These are the people who have offended us, hurt us, and slandered us. They need to overcome even their self-imposed bondage. They need to begin to arise out of whatever condition caused their actions.
There is good news for these underdogs. Someone believes in them. Someone cheers them on. That Someone is God. Also, angels and a great cloud of heavenly witnesses that care about them very much are cheering them on.
Maybe, even we are joining the cheer…
“Bless (cheer?) the one who curses you. Do something wonderful (cheer?) for the one who hates you. Respond to the very ones who persecute you by praying (cheering?) for them. For that will reveal your identity as children of your heavenly Father.” – Matthew 5:44-45 TPT
Maybe, instead of seeing the above scripture as a requirement that’s hard to be sincere about, we can look at these underdogs from another angle, a better view, a God’s-eye view, and we can get excited about a happy ending for them. We can look toward a wonderful day for them, a day when they may truly say…
“It was like a dream come true when you freed us from our bondage and brought us back to Zion! We laughed and laughed and overflowed with gladness. We were left shouting for joy and singing your praise. All the nations saw it and joined in, saying, “The Lord has done great miracles for them!” Yes, he did mighty miracles and we are overjoyed!” – Psalm 126:1-3 TPT
I, like probably everyone else, have people in my life that have hurt me. We are no longer close, but this idea excites me. I’m excited to see them rejoice in the changes made in them, and in their lives. I see them laughing and singing for the joy they thought they would never see. I see God, who is only good, doing mighty miracles for them, and my heart celebrates!
They may not know it, but we are cheering, “Get up! You can do it! It’s not over! You got this!” With God, it’s not only possible, but probable, and maybe even inevitable.
Isn’t it fun to root for an underdog?
Have a great day!