Brazil’s Humiliating Defeat In World Cup 2014 And Life Lessons Learnt

            Football is considered to be a religion in the South American countries. Brazil, a five time winner of the world cup, was a hot favorite to win this year’s edition. After Neymar’s debilitating injury and Captain Thiago Silva’s suspension, not many expected Brazil to defeat a powerful German team in the semifinals.

            But hardly anyone expected Brazil to lose by seven goals to Germany. This defeat is not only abnormal but exceedingly humiliating. A run of the mill defeat would have been a one, two or even a three goal loss. But a seven goal defeat was incredibly shameful.  

            Brazil’s humiliating defeat teaches us valuable life lessons, which I submit for your consideration.

Topsy-Turvy Life

            You may remember the brutal murder of Columbian footballer Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga for scoring an own goal that led to his team’s elimination from the 1994 world cup. Even death need not be a surprise to these high profile players who carry their nation’s expectations and hopes on their rather frail human shoulders.

            One day the Brazilians were the hot favorites, high flying, and adored by many. The next day they crash-landed because of their humiliating loss.

            This is life; one day we may be on top of the world – peaceful, successful, praiseworthy, and sought after. The next day when something goes terribly wrong in our life, we crash-land badly.

            Peace then becomes a rare commodity. Success abandons us. People who sang our praises will gossip and abuse us. Friends will compete to cease their friendship with us. That one loss, that one setback, albeit outside human control, will drive a thousand nails into our coffin. A life that was once so bright and prosperous turns dark and gloomy.

            This is life. How then do we live this topsy-turvy life without losing our sanity and more importantly, our faith in God? 

Thankful Life

            A stunning image after Brazil’s devastating loss was the on-field prayers of David Luiz and Luis Gustavo. Should we wonder what motivated their prayers immediately after the horrifying loss?

            The bible teaches us to be thankful in all circumstances. Job’s fascinating response to his wife teaches us the foundation for being thankful, “…Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” (Job 2: 10, NASB). Do we not know that God’s not a magic potion for our success?

            When we realize that God is not a magic potion for our worldly success, then we will certainly live our lives in constant gratitude. It’s a grievous error to think that success and adulation should always fill our Christian life. The Bible does not teach anything even remotely close to this.

            Notably, the Bible teaches us to be thankful to God always - in joy and pain (1 Thessalonians 5: 18). The Bible also teaches us to be intentional in our thankfulness to God (Colossians 4: 2).

            How do we condition ourselves to be constantly thankful?

Godly Life

            Conditioning ourselves to be constantly thankful is to live a godly life. But how do we live a godly life?

            Could God have prevented Brazil’s slaughter by Germany? The sovereign God could have certainly prevented the slaughter, but HE did not. God’s in absolute control over everything that happens in this universe, world cup soccer included. But God chose not to prevent Brazil’s slaughter. Why? We may never know and we need not know the precise reason.

            Man cannot evaluate God based on worldly successes and failures. An average man’s life may contain more failures than successes. Permit me to elaborate from within the sporting paradigm.

            Brazil’s five world cup wins is more than any other team. But when we recollect Brazil’s five wins, do we realize Brazil’s fifteen losses in world cup competitions, since 1930?    

            Brazil lost in fifteen (15) and won in five (5) world cup competitions. Germany lost sixteen (16) and won four (4), Argentina lost eighteen (18) and won two (2), England lost nineteen (19) and won one (1). Every single soccer team has experienced more failures than success. This is a fact.

            Spain won the 2010 world cup. Until then, Spain had failed in every world cup competition.

            This is life. We suffer multiple failures, and this holds true with successful people as well. Failures do not overwhelmingly discourage successful people.   

            Westminster Shorter Catechism accurately interprets the Bible to state that the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy HIM forever. Men may forsake each other during failures, but God never leaves or forsakes anyone anytime. It is during failure that man can experience God’s grace sufficiently (2 Corinthians 12: 9). 

            A Christian focuses on God always, more so during failures. When he focuses on God, he thinks and sees everything in God’s perspective. When he fails to understand the reason for his failure and suffering, he humbles himself in God’s presence, and trusts in God’s goodness, justice and love. He entrusts his failure into God’s gracious presence to receive peace, power and the wisdom to endure and overcome his failure.

            Godly life is lived in constant and unchanging love, trust and hope on God and HIM alone, at all times, so to glorify HIM.

Perfectly Imperfect Life

            As I begin this section of the essay, Brazil has lost the game for the third place by three goals to Holland. Thiago Silva’s defensive lapse led to the first goal. In the previous game against Germany, David Luiz’s defensive lapse led to the first goal.

            Perfection is humanly impossible. It would have been perfect for David Luiz to have defended Muller, so to have prevented the first goal that led to a cascade of goals. But Luiz didn’t, and the rest is history.

            Perfection in every situation is humanly impossible. Humans are essentially imperfect. God alone is perfect. David Luiz may have played many perfect games, but in the most significant game, he failed; he was imperfect.

            But he didn’t fail intentionally. Let’s discern this crucial detail.

            We cannot always be perfect in our lives. I am not alluding to our sinful nature. There are instances where we do not need to sin to be imperfect.

            David Luiz’s imperfect defense, due to a possible lapse in concentration, is a classic case in point. David Luiz did not sin; he didn’t play well enough in that particular situation. Thus he was unintentionally imperfect.

            We will be unintentionally imperfect too. These unintentional imperfections could lead us to fail. These unintentional imperfections need not be sinful.

            A common unintentional imperfection we suffer from is forgetfulness. In India, if we forget to pay our electricity bill, there would come a time when the electricity department would disconnect the power supply to our home.

            Sometimes these power outages could prove disastrous especially if we have to miss out on crucial appointments with reputed clients. Such lapses could cost our jobs and our lives would go south into utter darkness.

            But God is a God of grace and mercy. HE never fails to lead his disciple out of his failure. HE never fails to strengthen HIS disciple to endure the failure.

            We could overcome these unintentional imperfections. God’s grace entails this possibility.

            But the disciple should remain in Christ so to receive God’s guidance and strength, especially during moments of abject failures. Thus, the prayers of Gustavo and David Luiz makes much sense, for it is through prayer we receive strength and wisdom to endure and overcome failures.

Peace In A Ridiculed Life

            The world loves to ridicule those in pain. Due to their abject failure, we can confidently assume that the Brazilian players would receive hate taunts, visits, phone calls, emails, and tweets etc. in plenty.

            Living through ridicule is never easy for anyone. But it is possible to live through this ridicule. How?

            The Bible says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4: 6-7, NASB).

            Once again, it’s wise to pray during failures, for when we pray to God, HIS peace fills our hearts and minds, and guards us in Christ Jesus - our Lord and Savior.

Hopeful Life

            Any team can win the 2018 world cup. The winner of 2018 could probably be a team that has never won the world cup. In other words, a team that has failed in this year’s edition could win the next world cup. This is a definite possibility.

            The qualifying competitions for the 2018 world cup in Russia would begin soon. All the teams, the past champions and the future-hopeful, would vie for the top honors. This too is life.

            Germans had not tasted world cup success in two decades. They were in a world cup drought since 1990. But they didn’t give up. They hoped, they trained, they played, and they played exceedingly well to be the most worthy world champions.  

            Do not give up. The Bible teaches that hope is inherent in faith, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”(Hebrews 11: 1, NASB, Emphasis mine).

            The Bible also teaches that God is a God of hope, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15: 13, NASB).

            So let us continue to discern God’s will for our life and not give up. Let us hope in God and by the grace and the power of God, HIS will will be done in our life.

            I pray that God’s peace and hope would fill all those who earnestly seek it – the Brazilian soccer team, all the other teams that failed in this edition of the world cup, you, and me. Amen.

Mysterious Disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 and Marvelous Life Lessons Learnt

Introduction

On 25^th March CNN announced, “"We're not searching for a needle in a haystack," Mark Binskin, vice chief of the Australian Defence Force, told reporters.”We're still trying to define where the haystack is."” The same day the Malay premier declared that MH370 crashed into the South Indian Ocean and all 239 people onboard were presumed to be dead. ¹

While one statement is distant to any conclusion whatsoever, the other statement pronounces a concrete closure to MH370 saga. Although it is difficult to understand this situation, the pain of the loved ones could be remotely felt. Their pain is unbearable. It is horrendous to be in such a situation.

However, this sad situation teaches us a few life lessons.

Fallibility of Man

            Although it is possible that MH370 has crashed and all onboard dead, conflicting media reports keeps us guessing the truth claim of that possibility. Then there are those who come up with conspiracy theories, so to keep skepticism and uncertainty alive and well.

When conflicting reports inundate us, truth and trust suffers. Who is speaking the truth? Who do we trust? Should our existence be immersed in skepticism?

Conflicting media reports cannot be trusted on its face value. All men cannot be trusted always; only some can be trusted more often than not. Those who can be trusted are those who have earned our trust over a period of time through the relationship we have shared in close proximity with each other.

In this case, the families of those onboard may find it difficult to trust those providing them with reports about missing aircraft. It’s quite plausible that the authorities are withholding information. Man has not given them any hope whatsoever.

Frailty of Science

            Science has offered us a privilege of always boarding an airplane with optimism. I have never smelt death while boarding an airplane. Significantly, there was not even one aircraft accident of the magnitude of MH370 in 2013. ² This is science’s achievement. This is due to God’s gracious and active presence in this world. 

            In 2000, when President Clinton visited India, certain sections of media glorified the security offered to him. Apparently, the US satellites deployed to watch over the President had the ability to incessantly monitor the movement of the second hand of a wrist watch. Such was their power and precision to monitor the movement of even the smallest object in the vicinity of the President.

            If technology possessed such power and precision then, today’s technology should have been enhanced thousand fold. But why is science unable to trace the path of the aircraft, even after the plane’s transponders were switched off?

Why is science unable to provide common man with answers for an event that occurred on earth (we are not even talking about outer space)? Probably the common man would never know.

            If what’s been said is true - that the aircraft with 239 people onboard is truly unable to be traced, all I can conclude is that science is only in the process of conquering the greater challenges of life. While science is definite about certain subjects, it’s weak on other subjects.

But the fact remains; science cannot be relied and trusted in all circumstances. Science seems to have failed us in this situation.

Beauty of Love

            None of the 239 onboard MH370 may have been friends with us. However, we grieve as if we had always known them. This is the beauty of love.

            Man, made in the image of God, shares the love of God. Because he loves his unseen neighbor, he grieves his neighbor’s loss as if it were his own.

            But the beauty of love includes the hatred of evil deeds. If and only if the MH370 disappeared due to terrorism, one cannot expect man to love the evil deed of the terrorists. But terrorists are victims of their circumstances that are deep in deception. They possess the wrong ideology; they believe falsehood as truth, hence they practice evil.  

We are called to love our neighbors; the terrorists are our neighbors too (Mark 12: 31a). By the grace of God we can love the terrorists so to pray for their deliverance, and even their families, who may even be an unwilling part. But we cannot love their evil deeds.  This is the beauty of love.

Tragedy In False Accusations

Why did the pilot’s son defend his father’s innocence? ³

Some media reports blame the pilots for the disappearance of MH370. Unfortunately, the pilots’ families will have to bear the brunt of this attack. Although concrete evidences convicting the pilots are yet to be provided, some people may be totally impolite and insane to taunt the family members as if the pilots were the culprits.

False accusation is an incredible trial and a tragedy. How should the falsely-accused deal with false accusation? While we cannot discount God from the picture, God’s people will also provide the family with the much needed encouragement and comfort. These are people who continue to love, care, pray and provide for the family in times of their stress and distress.

We should not pronounce judgment, especially when the evidences against the accused are highly speculative in nature.  

Unpredictability of Life

            A poignant description of life’s uncertainty is marvelously expressed in these words, “How do you know what will happen even tomorrow? What, after all, is your life? It is like a puff of smoke visible for a little while and then dissolving into thin air” (James 4: 14, PHILLIPS).

            Our life is so unpredictable that we need to quickly, constantly and consistently maximize its potential. Are we focusing on accumulating wealth by discarding God to a particular day in a week or an hour in a day? This is gross injustice inflicted upon ourselves.

Our existence is intelligibly sustained by God. Thus it is irrational to relegate our existence to mere chance or fate, which has its feet firmly planted in midair.

Viewing our lives through the eyes of God – the maker of heaven and earth would help us understand life’s situations better.  Trying to make sense of MH370’s disappearance in light of God is a fruitful and not a futile endeavor.

But a more basic question is, “do we know the one true God?” If not, we ought to strive to know the one true and living God. To know, love and obey God is our life’s constant endeavor, so to gain peace and eternal security. Thus one can maximize his life through its unpredictability.

Reliability of God

            Of this I am sure – that humans are imperfect. There is no perfect man or woman – no, not even one. Man will fail us especially when we do not expect him to fail.

Think about the families of the 239 people onboard MH370. Think about the long duration they have to endure without knowing if their dear one is dead or alive. At the end of the day, they need answers to satisfy their questions. They remain dissatisfied for they have not received answers from man.

They are very sad. Maybe their friends can console them to partly heal them of their sadness. But it is also certain that man cannot entirely heal sadness, for sadness is a matter of our heart and soul. Man cannot heal the damage inflicted upon the heart and soul of his fellow being.  

But the families have deep questions. Why did their loved one die an early, sudden and a gory death? Why are they relegated to a state of uncertainty about the fate of their loved one? Questions of this nature are numerous.

Man or science cannot answer such deep questions of the soul. Only God can. Only God can touch the need of the human heart with HIS nail pierced hands. Only God can satisfy the needs of the human heart, provided man is humble and willing to hear from HIM.

Think about this. If I do not want to hear what you are trying to communicate, then I will not hear your statements. If I am only partially aware of your communication, I would only integrate the partial truth. This is precisely how the relationship works between God and man.

If man thinks that God is inadequate to answer his questions or if man does not trust in God, then man shuts God out of his life. Man has only himself to blame. Such a man does not love God. He rejects God. So he will always be longing for answers. Such a man will always remain dissatisfied.

Conclusion

Only God can answer man’s deep questions and heal his sadness. God will answer and heal, if man allows HIM to speak to his need. Man should also focus on receiving God’s truth, even when that truth may be unpleasant to his ears. Man should rely on God always.

May God heal the pain and sorrow of the families of those presumed to be dead and all the others who are suffering in various other predicaments. This is my prayer in Christ’s name. Amen.

Endnotes:

¹ http://edition.cnn.com/2014/03/25/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/

² http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_commercial_aircraft#2013

³ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/missing-malaysian-flight-mh370-my-father-would-never-have-crashed-on-purpose-pilots-son-insists-9219306.html