What time is it?

  It’s football time in Tennessee, but not just in Neyland Stadium.  High school football is deep in its season, and you can catch Carson Newman’s games as they air right here on Joy620!

  Expectations for the University of Tennessee are hard to figure out this year. You never know, with new leadership, what will change, and what will stay the same. I’m certainly hopeful for the program, with new head coach Josh Heupel and Michigan transfer quarterback Joe Milton. With so much new, there’s plenty to be excited about.

  It remains to be seen what Coach Heupel has in store for our boys, but after this Saturday, you’ve probably got that, “here we go again” shaking-your-head-in-defeat look about you. A word of warning, fellow fans, no program is a knockout from the start. Every team has growing pains, and we all know we’ve had our share. But seriously, proceed with emotional caution!  The distance between expectations and reality is often called disappointment. And what’s that verse about protecting your hearts? Oh, yeah, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23, NIV).

  That’s something we as the body of Christ need to be keeping in mind as we face disappointments, not just in football, but in all things. Ever heard your pastor joke about the congregation thinning after a Saturday loss for UT? Isn’t that sad? How much more do we (or should we) love our Savior than our football programs? And He has never once let us down.

  There are plenty of “life is a [insert favorite object here]” analogies, and football could certainly be one. We find ourselves in lots of highs and lots of lows. We’ve probably been the all-out champ and the underdog. But the difference is that no matter how much we might feel like we’re trailing, we are going to win. Christ has already won this battle. No matter how bleak it seems to us, He knows the ending, and we can rely on Him to get us there.

  We might feel like we lost the lead, like we blew it, and the truth is we did. But He comes by, on the daily, picks us up, and carries us into the end zone.

  So don’t put your trust in something that is just a game. Remember, idol worship didn’t work thousands of years ago, and it doesn’t work now. Put your trust in Christ. That way, no matter what the outcome of Saturday, you can sing full of hope on Sunday.

 Go Big Orange, but Trust in Him!

Bob Bell