Over the years the word loser has reach prominence to the point of being a recognized device of modern expression. You hear the word tossed around as a means of reviling someone or simply banter among friends. But, what is a loser? The general definition is one who suffers loss, misplaces something or loses the game. Yet the modern expression mainly refers to someone who is a dud or who can’t get it together. It’s a put-down.

The popular TV show, “The Biggest Loser” has put a new spin on the word and made it a positive expression for the person who loses the most weight. This is a good thing if you are overweight. Although I could stand to lose twenty pounds, I don’t think I could compete in this category. But am I a loser? Have you ever explored this question?

I like what Jesus said about being a loser. He clarified the term loser from a different perspective. In Luke 9:25 He said, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” I think he was talking about what I’d call an eternal loser. You know someone who seems to have it all together but loses out in the end. In this case a person that might be considered a loser by modern terms could turn out to be an eternal winner. Who wins and who loses in the eternal sense offers a very different approach to the term loser. Are you an eternal winner or loser?

I am hopelessly flawed. I want to be good and have good motives, but I find my heart to be full of selfish motives, unloving and unkind. I try not to act on these ugly inner thoughts, for I want to be good. I try to put on the good. People think of me as good. Alas, I am not. I am hopelessly flawed. I sometimes get depressed over this lack of good in me. I want to be nice to people. I want to treat them like a good Christian should. I want God to like me.

Do you identify with this inner conflict? The Apostle Paul did. In Romans chapter 7 he expresses this same inner conflict.

21. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23. But I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25. Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Thank you Father for your word, and thank you Paul for expressing this inner conflict so I know that I’m not alone. Once again I am reminded that it is my FAITH that pleases God, not my puny attempts to make myself good. In Jesus he fixed the problem that I can’t fix. Yes, I am indeed flawed, but not hopelessly as I sometimes get lured into thinking. There is hope not in what I can do, but in what he has done. So, I take comfort in these words: “Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Amen!

On a Friday evening several years ago one of our  then 9 week old puppies got his foot caught and managed to fracture it.  Needless to say this was a great trauma for one so young.  So I held him through the night.   As he lay on my chest he was calmed and comforted and able to sleep.  I didn’t get a lot of sleep, but he did fine.  That Sunday morning during worship time at our church I was suddenly taken by the thought, ‘how closely this relates to God and us’.

God is the great big guy and we are the little pups.  He knows everything that’s going on around us.  We have a very narrow view of the world.  Continuing the analogy, I knew that our five little puppies would be leaving that coming weekend to go to their new homes.  They didn’t have a clue that this was going to happen.  Leaving the comfort of our home and their mother was scary.  I knew their future homes would be loving places for them to grow, but initially the change would be traumatic for them.

When God sends us to a new place or we face a new trial we don’t have a clue what’s happening, but he knows and has a great plan for us.  It’s scary!  But he says, “Trust in me and lean not on your own understanding.”  He wants us to understand that he’s the big guy who loves and cares for us.  He has the big picture.  He’ll walk us through the new unknown stuff.

So, let’s go back to my night with the puppy.  I believe God wants to hold us on his chest through those hurting experiences.  When we’re injured, ill or whatever misery confronts us.  The big guy wants to comfort us through it.  We can lie on the chest of the creator of the universe and be calmed and comforted.  It still hurts, but it’s great to know someone much bigger is there for us.