It doesn’t happen very often, but this particular Friday evening I had double-booked myself.  Not wanting to miss Circle of 8, I told my friend that I would have to show up late to the Panther’s game that he invited me to. I scarfed down my dinner and hustled to the car to get down to Sunrise for the game.

I got there right at the end of the first period and they were down 1-0.  It’s no fun to go to a game where your team loses. We settled in during the intermission, and the game resumed.  They, not us, scored again.  And then, in the third period, with 9 minutes to go, they scored again.  Three to nothing, I was depressed, the whole stadium was silent, except for a couple of jerks, I mean, brave souls way off in the
distance, who dared to chant “let’s go Hurricanes” – we were playing Carolina.

To that, a big guy right behind us yells out “We are going to win it!”  My eyebrows went up in disillusionment as much as surprise.  “You have to have F-A-I-T-H!” he bellowed again.  What?!

My theologically-trained mind met my disheartened soul, and I leaned over to my friend and said, “there’s a difference between faith and wishful thinking.”  I struggle with that in our Christian world.  Preachers, usually wanting a large donation, will say that if you just sow a seed of faith, that God will reward it ten times over. That for a small gift sent to their “ministry” they will pray and God will give whatever your little heart desires.  A Lexus?  Try it!  A big boat?  Send your $19.99 in and find out!  And that is not faith.  It’s wishful thinking (on the part of the televangelist if he thinks the gimmick will work on me!).  I digress.

There were 9 minutes left in the game.  We were down by 3.  And the energy the Panthers had put into this particular game made you wonder if they were trying out for figure skating, not NHL hockey.

And then, in the usual rhythm of the game, almost by surprise, they scored. The crowd cheered, but quickly sat down, not wanting to let too much hope back in their hearts.  And then two minutes later, they scored again!  At this point, I turned around and high-fived the faith guy.  Yeah, not me the preacher, but the big guy behind us.  He was the faith guy.  And then, in the last minute, came goal number 3. The
stadium, with all that ice even, began to bounce.

One of the things that turns happiness into joy is when the end you expected for a long time takes a dramatic and unexpected positive turn.  I think we all experienced joy that evening…except those brave souls from Carolina across the stadium somewhere.

The game had gone into overtime.  For showing up late, and starting with a disappointing score, I was getting one remarkable show!  The three-on-three yielded no score, so then we went to shootouts.  And the Panthers won it!

My glee was tempered by the doubt I had shown about faith.  Why did that guy behind me have it more than me?  Do I lack faith?  I don’t know, maybe.  That same guy probably went to the next game, brought his “faith” line to the subsequent game, but they lost that one.

No, the lesson to learn didn’t have to do with hockey, or the Panthers specifically. But it did have to do with the idea that hope and faith can shine in the darkest moments, in the times when the answers to our prayers seem the most unlikely to be answered. Hope in the One whom we ask never needs to be extinguished. No circumstance is beyond the capacity of God to resolve. A crazy hockey game reminded me of it.

Schooled at a Panthers game,

Craig

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”  Hebrews 11:6