Underdogs

Do you enjoy rooting for the underdog?  Many people do.  It's fun seeing someone not expected to excel or win, excelling or winning.

Friday night our high school football team traveled almost four hours north to compete in the quest for the gold ball in Class C 8-man football.  We were playing Deer Creek/Lamont Academy (DCLA), the number one ranked team, who hadn't been beat in 23 straight games and who was last year's Class C State Champs.

Our Tipton team was ranked seventh, after loosing two games in regular season play.  They played well in the first playoff game, advancing to the second round.  All sports websites and reports predicted Tipton would lose badly, but they didn't know what was about to happen.  They didn't know that our football team was determined to win and didn't care if they were predicted to lose.  They didn't know that our team didn't feel intimidated by playing the number one ranked team and defending state champions.

But now they do.  Now they know because our boys BEAT DCLA - 13 to 12!!!  In the first quarter, Tipton scored a touchdown, making the score 6 to 0 early on.  At that point, DCLA was at a place where they hadn't been in two seasons of play.  They were down!  And they stayed behind the whole game.  The Tipton Tigers have advanced to the state semi-finals and our town is extremely proud of the boys for their hard work, dedication, and determination.  We'll be cheering for them Saturday night!

Underdogs.  Not any more!

As I thought about the Tipton Tigers being the underdogs in Friday's game and what they were up against going into that game, my thoughts turned to another underdog.  An underdog in the Bible.  I thought about David (1 Samuel 17).  Young David was a shepherd and didn't have experience fighting, except for killing some animals that had threatened the sheep, but he was willing to fight the over nine feet tall Goliath.  His faith to win the battle over Goliath wasn't because of what he thought he could do, but in what God could do through him.  Yes, David was an underdog, but he relied on the power and strength of a mighty God!  And, he won!  He defeated Goliath!!  With the help and power of the Lord!

So, best wishes to the Tipton Tiger football team as you play Saturday night!  We can't wait to cheer for you!! Interestingly, in the David and Goliath story, David cut off Goliath's head and he took it to Jerusalem.  The Bible doesn't say what happened to the head after that, but it seems it was kind of like a trophy (an odd trophy, but a trophy!).  Tigers, we want you to bring home a GOLD BALL!  (No heads, please!)