The Transform Portal - By Tabby Truxillo
My 5-year old is in the habit of snatching my phone when I am not looking and playing a baseball game that his cousins downloaded while we are on a family vacation this summer.
One Sunday morning while getting ready for church, he startled me as he said, “Mama, I’m playing for the devil’s team.”
Shocked, I turned from the mirror to see that he had grabbed my phone and was playing the baseball game. I said, “James, we never play for the devil’s team,” to which he replied, “Well, they’re winning.”
It was not necessarily the devil’s team, but a mascot that resembled a devil. Either way, this statement from my son’s mouth hit me hard.
How often do we look at others who are making poor life choices and think they seem to have all the success coming their way? What’s the point in doing things the right way? If you work hard, you should be rewarded – and rewarded quickly.
As the wife of a high school football coach, I see first-hand how much my husband pours himself into his players, how much time he sacrifices away from home and sometimes that doesn’t equal a win on Friday night.
Then, my mind goes to Galatians 6:9 – “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
At the proper time … not your timing, God’s timing because here’s the spoiler alert – God’s team is always the winning team. It’s easy to lose sight of this whenever life’s storms tend to linger longer than we think we can withstand. It can feel like we are on the losing team, and we look for easier ways to fix that.
We see it in college football all the time. A player gets moved down the depth chart, he finds a new team and can play immediately. A player does not get along with a certain coach, he finds a new team. A player thinks he’s better than the team that originally recruited him, and he enters the transfer portal to find another, more successful team, throwing loyalty out the window in the process.
Here’s the hard truth, though – there are no transfer portals in life.
Yes, you can fool yourself into thinking you are switching to a more ideal situation or the “winning” team by winning at all costs, giving up who we are as a person and who God called us to be.
You didn’t get the promotion at work that you thought you deserved. Instead of working harder, you start backstabbing others to get ahead.
You go through a hard break-up with a mate, or even a friend. The struggle of loneliness leads you to find the company of others that aren’t bringing out the best in you.
You deal with life’s disappointments in general, and instead of clinging to God and His promises, you turn to quicker fixes – alcohol, drugs, gambling – the list goes on and on in the playground of the Devil.
It may seem like it’s working for a while, but sin will always find a way to catch up to you.
There may not be a transfer portal in life, but there is a transform portal if you stay the course.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18
When you find yourself going through life’s rocky paths, stay the course. Do not detour and try to transfer yourself into a winning situation. Our circumstances are only temporary.
Instead, continue on the path knowing God is carrying you through the darkness and into the light. If you are unsure what to do, dive into the Word, talk to God, and pray fervently.
He is always you. We may not be able to see what is in front of us, but He can. And if we stay the path, I believe God will use us in an unfathomable way that honors Him.
“Blessed is the one who preservers under trail because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” James 1:12
The transfer portal is tempting, but through trials, we are transformed into champions.
