The Test of Good Times

Have you seen Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson’s TV show The Titan Games? It’s basically his take on American Gladiators. In the second season, he invited professional, all-star athletes to be his Titans, to compete against the everyday Americans who had to run his grueling obstacle course. One of those pros was Victor Cruz, who won a Super Bowl ring (by beating the Patriots but that’s neither here nor there). What was amazing about the Titan Games was that almost every pro Titan got beaten in their first run at the obstacle course… including Cruz.

Then, in the second-to-last episode of the season, anyone who was a Titan and lost got to come back and try one more time… including all the pros. They had a really cool interview with Cruz where he talked about how surprised he was to lose so badly in his first run. He observed that it had been a couple of years since he had played pro ball, and he hadn’t stayed in the same peak physical condition.

I have to say, watching that during a pandemic, nursing my own quarantine-18, I felt him. 

There are seasons of our life where we feel all-in, fully present. In athletics, it’s when we’re prepping for big events – games, reality TV, whatever. 

In faith, it’s often the difficult seasons of life that make our faith really strong (much like working out – it’s when you hurt that you’re really getting work done). 

So the question is what happens after the season’s over. It’s hard to keep in game day shape when there’s no game on the horizon. And, if we’re being honest, for a lot of us, it’s a lot easier to be faithful when things are hard. It’s easier to pray when we need help. 

Let’s explore how we can be faithful after the hard times.

After all, the bad times don’t last forever. But we want to thrive in the good times too!

Join us Sunday as we learn how God can use good times to grow our faith.