The Patriot Post® · March Madness

The year 2018 will go in the record books for its record number of upsets. I’m not that much of a basketball fan, but I was in Baghdad working nights, and the Armed Forces Network was broadcasting all those games live, so it was hard to avoid. For the record, I was second string on our high school basketball team only because I was tall. I would have been third string, but it was a small school, so there wasn’t a large pool of candidates.

Let’s look at some of the more spectacular upsets. Number 9 seed Florida State beat Number 1 seed Xavier; Number 11 seed Syracuse beat Number 3 seed Michigan State; Number 11 seed Loyola-Chicago beat Number 3 seed Tennessee; and one of the biggest upsets was Number 16 seed University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) beating Number 1 seed Virginia. One thing I’ve noticed in sports these days is that humility is in short supply. The chest-bumping and other theatrics when someone scores are embarrassing.

We all have our favorite teams, but if anything, I think Americans appreciate the underdog kind of upsets — when the “least likely to succeed” come from behind and win the game. I think that God is all about helping the underdogs. Take David and Goliath. That caption, David against Goliath, is frequently used to chronicle the come-from-behind kind of victory, whether on the court, on the field, in the courthouse, or in the business world. Let’s look at a couple scenarios from a heavenly perspective.

First and foremost, humility is the winning characteristic for a believer. Proverbs tells us that “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18, ESV). The Apostle Peter tells us this: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you” (I Peter 5:5b-6). David had the right perspective. Goliath cursed him for coming at him with a sling. David said to him, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (I Samuel 17:45). This guy was so big, there was no way David could miss hitting him! I think this is where the phrase “the bigger they are, the harder they fall” originated. I can see an angel out there, on point, with the slow playback frames showing the stone getting a little angelic flick as it went by. It puts a whole new spin on “stoned” (pun intended).

How about Satan? Lack of humility cost him his heavenly gig. He was right up there, top seed in the angelic court. Then he decided to not play by the rules. Remember what I said earlier about pride? From our perspective, we might get intimidated by him — looks like he’s got one heck of a team thing going. Paul gives us the proper perspective to have: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient [KJV ‘temporal’ or temporary], but the things that are unseen are eternal” (II Corinthians 4:17-18). We need to put on the spiritual equivalent of night vision goggles — piercing the darkness.

Here’s the deal: This game bracket has been determined from the foundation of the world. It’s going to be the biggest upset in history — this second-string bunch of Christians who don’t even have the same uniform beating the top-seeded red devils! The outcome has already been determined. Tomorrow is game day, guys. Time to go on offense, full-court press. The angels on the bench outnumber the red devils two-to-one. That’s a game changer, and its jungle rules from here on out. Two words — game on! What say ye, Man of Valor?