P.I.G.

Every play a game called PIG?

It's a basketball game in which each player takes turns shooting shots in order. If the person in front of you makes their shot, you have to make the same shot they made.

If you miss the shot, you get a letter...like "P". If you miss another shot the person in front of you made, you get another letter..."I", and so on until you spell "PIG", then you are out.

The last person to not have spelled "PIG" wins.

My son and I like to play this game, and he is pretty good for being just 7-years-old. It beats playing one-on-one with a kid who has enough energy for the entire block.

One of the funnest things about the game is that you can get very tricky with the shots you take. You can even describe exactly how the shot is supposed to be done, and if you make it, the person behind you has to make the shot exactly as described.

"Off the garage door, off the tree limb, hit the backboard, nothing but net". These are always a blast, especially if you make it. But there is one other rule that, most likely, someone who lost the game alot made up. It's called "Prove it".

What happens is that when you make a shot and the person behind you misses the shot, if that miss gave them the last letter of the word, "PIG", then you are obligated to make the shot again, proving it was not just luck that caused them to lose. You have to "Prove It".

There have been many LONG games of PIG because we could never prove the "off the garage, off the limb, off the backboard, nothing but net" shots, and the loser would get a second life. In fact, I have witnessed someone who was on the verge of losing come all the way back to win after getting a second life with the "Prove It".

But in a way, this is a picture of how we can get the victory over the devil in life.

So many times we are just plodding along and everything is going well. We are making all the shots. Job is going well, relationships seem healthy. Body is functioning well. And then all the sudden we become a victim of a downsizing, and the Devil says "P".

We think, "it's ok, I can get through this". We find work, not quite as good as before, but we can manage. Then we wake up one morning, and our marriage seems a little sideways. Just not on the same page...then things escalate and we're wondering, how did we get here? And the devil smirks and says, "P-I".

We patch it up with a kind gesture. Things seem to be back to normal, or at least less volitile for the moment.

Then we get the news. The report from the tests we had run at the Doctors Office, and we find oursleves starring off into space faced with the prospect of a whole new kind of life, and not one we had hoped to live.

As we sit in silence thinking about this new reality, a small voice whispers sarcastially, "P-I-G!"

We are about to walk away from the game. We've been beat. We missed on all the important stuff and now the game is over. But then we realize...

He pulled one out of the closet for that last shot. A real, "off the garage, off the limb, off the backboard, nothing but net" kind of shot. And we remember, this game ain't over yet!!

Confident, we stand up in the face of the medical report, the strife in the relationship and the disappointment of the job and say, "PROVE IT!"

But what he and we both realize is that there is no way he can! He has no basis to stand on. He has no authority to draw from. He's all LUCK! And there is no LUCK in our game - it's all GRACE!

We battle the report and through faith the sicknesses goes away! ..."P"! devil...

We apologize to our spouse, genuinely repent of selfishness, repair the hurts and the marriage is better than ever! ... "I"! devil...

We dig in and work on our resume. Go back to school to finish that education and find a job twice as good as the one we lost. Or we start that business and things take off! "G"!...devil...

Now he's the one facing elimination, and he cowardly says, "prove it?"

Grabbing the ball from his gnarly little hands we loft up the shot...."If God is for me, WHO can be against me!?" SWISH! Game over.........PIG!

When the devil tries to make you think he's won the game, just stir your faith, stand on the Word and say, "PROVE IT!"