I wrote this the morning after the night before.
England out on a penalty shoot-out.
I was 21 when we went out of Italia ’90 in the semi-finals in the same way, and 27 for Euro ’96, so it has been a long while since I felt the same way about a football match involving the national team. No doubt there are lots of lessons to learn, but two things are for sure – the second half of full time was dramatically different from the first half and the penalty shoot-out didn’t go according to plan.
You can have all the strategies you like, all the plans and practice time, but you can’t control the outcome. All we can do is hand it over to the Almighty, try our hardest, and keep going whatever the result.
Looking back on times of change and struggle, it is often easier to see the Lord’s hand at work in retrospect than it is at the time. I think that’s pretty normal. But just because we can’t see him actively at work, it doesn’t mean he isn’t there. He is working all things for our good, just as he promised. And ‘our good’ is ultimately to draw closer to him, and in whatever small way to become more like him. Kinder, more patient, gentler, more self-controlled…
You can find Mark Hutchinson’s Seminar session from
Saturdays TG21 Session at around 1:15:50
Image Credit: Peter Glaser
