There’s a phenomenon in sports that is defined in just one word. It’s the moment when an athlete takes the field for the first time after last season’s injury. When a coach steps onto the court again, now with a new team after being let go by the last one. It’s when an athlete has a chance to win the game in its final moments after collapsing under pressure in the previous outing. This is why we love sports, right? These defining moments ignite something deep in our souls, as we are mesmerized by second chances and those against-all-odds moments that overcome the impossible. In one word – redemption.
Redemption unleashes deliverance. The athlete or coach is delivered from something to something else: Hurt to healed; fired to flourishing; heartbroken to hero. The goodness of these redemption moments spark excitement, for we, too, wish to find ourselves in a similar story – and we can.
Like all great stories, pre-redemption is bleak. You find yourself navigating a world that is broken and disappoints you. People disappoint you. You disappoint yourself. Empty promise after empty promise, you’re scarred by the realization that the world can’t fulfill its satisfaction guarantee that it continually makes. Doubt, discouragement and discontentment shout louder and louder; despite how well you compete and “succeed”, these voices never go away. What about life’s purpose? It’s elusive and difficult to define. And how can you forget about those insurmountable addictions, habits and behaviors that never get under control?
You need deliverance from something to something else.
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