Soccer, praying or working?

My dad is originally from Rotterdam (NL) and then, of course, you support your local soccer club: Feyenoord.

And what you grow up with, you are infected with, so this is me (once when I was younger). You can immediately see the club love radiating from my face!

Now that club also has a club song…

Hand in hand, comrades. Hand in hand for Feyenoord one. Actions rather than words. Long live Feyenoord one.

Now I no longer have any interest in football or that club (sorry dad), but that club song… it has something. Especially that part “Actions rather than words” and that “Hand in hand, comrades”, that has something to it.

Anyone who understands what we do here will probably immediately understand why. Because alone (without comrades) we will never achieve what we need to achieve to win. And with words alone, without actions, nothing will be achieved either…

But then it comes…. Even with all our earthly comrades, it is still not possible to win. The problems we see here are FAR too big for that. From a human perspective, we are fighting a battle that cannot be won. But… fortunately, there is God! He is MUCH bigger than all of us and all those problems. And we can ask Him, through prayer, for help.

However, there is sometimes a problem with that “prayer”…. In my own past, things didn’t always go “so well”… on the contrary… and sometimes you met people who said:

My thoughts and prayers are with you.

And then… they walked away… and I hope they really prayed for me… but I heard nothing after that. Let alone that I’ve seen some of it… and that “My thoughts and prayers are with you!” didn’t help, to be honest. On the contrary…. it did help me get further into the pit. “words”

There were also people who said:

So, so sorry to hear that. That must hurt a lot. To say the least. How can we help you?

And not only did they ask, but they actually helped! “Actions rather than words!” You will never forget those people. Even if you don’t speak to them for months, they always stay with you. But still… my problems weren’t over yet. (unfortunately) Because from a human point of view, they were so big, impossible to fix…

And then we come to “praying”. As said, … fortunately, there is God! He is WAY bigger than us and all those problems. And we can ask Him, through prayer, for help. Those praying people believed in that too!

So it is a puzzle with pieces… and only when that puzzle is complete does it become anything. Otherwise, it is pointless. (to stick to soccer terms for a moment)

The Bible also has something to say about that…

If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself.

James 2:15-17

Well then, a spicy piece of text! And yet, it is correct… and that is sometimes painful to see when you stand in front of the mirror… what did I do today?! Was it just words, or also actions… and also prayer?

If you combine those things, … then you can sincerely say: “Long live Feyenoord 1”. Then you are a winner. It’s that combination that makes a winning team.

And even if you did speak the right words, did act, did pray, sometimes you have to say… it did not work… and we have to move forwards… and that is painful to see or to do.. you feel so powerless. And then we know, and trust that:

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Because a team together with God… can’t lose…