All for the Glory of God

In 1 Corinthians 10:31, Paul writes, so whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

One thing I've learned since being at Cliff College is that we can worship God in virtually any way. 'Worship' for many may connote worship in a corporate setting, probably involving music and a church, but really it can be done in almost anything. This is what Paul is talking about, and as I grow in Christ I'm finding more ways in which to do it. Today is a prime example of this, for just an hour ago I was playing in a football match, with the Cliff College Cougars (basically the undergraduate team, whom I formed last year) versus the Postgraduate Panthers (a team of primarily postgraduate students and staff, who I formed this year because the Cougars weren't playing enough matches). It was a 6-a-side match, and this is the third time we played them.

On reflection, after losing 5-3, 4-3 and today 2-0, it's fair to say that the Cougars are a better team, mainly because a) they score more goals than us, and b) we don't score enough. I have no shame in admitting this, for they are overall much younger, faster and fitter than our team, and also play football more regularly. The advantage was definitely theirs, but nonetheless, we went out their and gave it our best. And the thing that God really spoke to me about was that, even though we were the losing team, we were not losing our cool, which is unfortunately a common occurrence in football matches, but instead we just kept encouraging each other and battling our way through. We did not get discouraged nor did we lose hope, until the final whistle eventually spelled defeat. Before the match we prayed and gave it to God, and also at half time. Though He didn't improve our abilities in ways which we probably wouldn't have objected to, He certainly did instill calm, and by His grace we were able to glorify Him through our actions and words. I pray that as we bathe our wounds and some learn to walk again (for it was a physical match!), we will all be able to reflect on and appreciate the calm and the humour which we approached and left the game with, and I will also play for the Cougars, whose 11-a-side record is not as good as their 6-a-side, that when they do lose to a proper team again that they will have learned something from the experience. We serve an awesome God.
:)