Opposition is your friend embrace it
The Superbowl is coming soon! I am looking out over the mesmerizing ocean near Tampa this week. The warm temperatures, pounding surf, and Florida sunshine are a welcome respite from dreary southcentral Pennsylvania winters.
Tamp is a buzz! Superbowl fifty-five will be the first time a team will have home field advantage. The Buccaneers are in the big game, and the city is loving it. "Old guy," Tom Brady will face off against the youngster, Patrick Mahomes. Both men are great quarterbacks; Brady is arguably the best of all time. Actually, all the players on both squads are outstanding football players. You don't get to the big event if you're not among the best.
How did these players and teams get to the pinnacle of pigskin history? One word, opposition. Both teams have faced the most formidable opposition a football team can weather. Now they are the last two standing. The contestants on each crew are intimately familiar with resistance. They have faced opposing forces since most of them were adolescent sportsmen. Taking down giants defines their lives in sports.
It is an axiom of team sports that you must play tough and, sometimes, more challenging opponents if you want your team to get better. Confronting resistance well is also an axiom of a healthy life.
I remembered many years ago, a group from church completed a significant community assistance project. It was exciting to catch sight of God opening doors of opportunity and challenge. A hallmark of our church family was to make a difference in people's lives. However, characteristic of all forward movement, there was opposition. In this case, it came from an unlikely source.
It never ceases to amaze me. You can be doing the most kind service possible, and naysayers will still oppose you. When antagonism rears its ugly head, I sometimes react in one of two manners, both rooted in my considerable maturity, yuk, yuk: fight or flight. To the extreme, neither of these reactions are the best solution.
I've found that opposition is a good friend. Here's why.
Opposition helps us clarify our motives and plans. It causes us to ask ourselves tough questions. Are we doing this for the right reasons? Have we done our homework? Do we have a good plan? Have we received wise counsel?
Opposition creates community. I remember one of my leadership professors making this statement. "A common enemy is a powerful, unifying force." Unity in purpose and plans is often unstoppable. Some of my closest friendship bonds were born out of opposition and challenging times.
Opposition makes us more robust in the same manner lifting weights builds muscle mass. Great projects and programs require persistence and strength—the bigger the project, the more power is needed for completion. As such noteworthy projects and programs often receive strong resistance. Adversaries develop our strengths, giving us the will and courage to complete the project.
Opposition allows us to see God at work. When the ancient character, Nehemiah, decided to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem, he pursued a vision that was clearly beyond his means. That's where the real fun began. God went before this extraordinary leader and cleared a path he could not conquer alone.
In 2008 our church decided to build a large, special-needs accessible playground in our community park. That year marked one of the most severe recessions our nation has ever experienced. Adventure Playground was an expensive venture, and we had virtually no funds set aside for the project. So, we began to raise funds. Numerous leaders advised us that we would never raise enough money for the completion of the project. Naysayers did not deter us.
We presented our case at civic clubs and applied for numerous grants. And, in the end, people from many sources gave generously. God had gone before us, and the final figure raised was around $637,000.
If you allow it, resistance will make you more determined. Listen to Nehemiah's words. "When our enemies heard that we knew of their plans and that God had frustrated them, we all returned to our work on the wall." (Nehemiah 4:15)
Nevertheless, I'm still not praying for opposition. It has a way of answering its' own prayer. But, when it comes, and come it will, I know it's a good thing. Perhaps you have some big plans for 2021. Expect opposition. Embrace this gift in disguise, and you'll go far.
