The men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament has had fans glued to their TVs and live streams while watching their favorite teams play in the “Big Dance.” Along the way there are always obvious victories as 1 seeds easily beat 16 seeds, but there are also huge upsets as lower-ranked teams beat higher seeds and advance to the next level. One such upset was 8-seed Wisconsin beating 1-seed Villanova to make it to the Sweet 16. An even bigger surprise was bracket-busting Xavier, who upset 3 teams on their way to the Elite Eight.

Fouled out

Not only are teams and their fans disappointed when they lose but also those with brackets are disappointed that their brackets are busted. Dealing with disappointments in sports is relatively easy because we know that eventually we can always look forward to the next game or the next season. Life can be more difficult. When a relationship, a class, an audition, a sports try-out or even a test does not work out how we hoped, it is hard to see past the disappointment of the moment if there is not another opportunity immediately ahead. The sense of loss that stems from those experiences can be devastating. Those are the moments when instead of drawing closer to God, we are most likely to blame others and even blame God for our loss.

Hoop dreams

Teenagers often deal with disappointment, but too many adults dismiss their teens’ upsets as trivial or try to fix them. Instead, teens need someone who will listen, affirm their feelings and simply offer to sit with them a while and pray. After the pain has passed, God will reveal (in God’s time) a new game plan. Repeatedly in Scripture we find examples of times when plans did not work out the way people had hoped or expected. From the garden of Eden to the churches planted throughout Europe and Asia, God reveals that, even though we have freewill and may make some wrong choices along the way, God still works through the Holy Spirit to align our dreams, our plans and our gifts with God’s kingdom-building goals.

Question of the day: What have been the biggest upsets so far in the NCAA tournament?
Key scriptures: Genesis 3:1-14; 37:23-36; 45:1-20

For a complete lesson on this topic visit LinC.