If you are a football or sports fan at all, you know that the Seattle Seahawks game yesterday with the Green Bay Packers was amazing...at least the last 4 minutes! The first half of the game for us here in the Seattle area was frankly hard to watch, since the Hawks didn't even get a first down until nearly 8 minutes into the second quarter.

After 4 interceptions by quarterback Russell Wilson, and trailing 19 to 7, the "12th man" fans and the gang of predominantly 20 somethings we were watching the game with were pretty quiet. Then, the excitement and noise began to build as Russ Wilson went to work, with the help of his team and key players like Doug Baldwin, Marshawn Lynch, Chris Matthews, Luke Willson, and Jermaine Kearse. After each play that went our way, the gang at our friend's Seahawks party would leap off the couch and chairs, grab each other, jump up and down and whoop it up! Loved their energy and enthusiasm!

And, miraculously, the Seattle Seahawks came back to win the game, becoming NFC Conference Champions, and earning the right to return to the Super Bowl. When the reporters reached Russ Wilson after the game, he was in tears, and said, "God is good all the time...every time! These guys on this team are unbelievable...the fight, the fight...people used to doubt...it's an honor just to be on this team...we had no doubt as a team."

All I can say is it was an awesome thing to watch...the comeback, I mean. That's one of the things I love about football...that the game can change direction even with only seconds left to play...and it ain't over until it's over! As one sport's writer said in This Given Sunday, The effort was a monument to fortitude, a testament to what can happen when perseverance trumps all. Isn't that so true? So many times in life, it's not about who has the most talent, but who is willing to work hard enough, to want it bad enough, to persevere to the end. That same sport's writer finished his article by saying, It was not about talent, but heart displayed in the face of incredible odds.

Games like this one give me hope...for we see the situations that seem headed for loss and defeat, can turn against almost insurmountable odds, and be victorious. One of the things I love about the Bible is that God often chose to use situations where the odds were stacked against His people, like the Israelites at the Red Sea, Joshua at the Battle of Jericho, David and Goliath, to stage a comeback victory. As it says in Jeremiah 32:27, "I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?" And Matthew 19:26 says, "With man, this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible." That is one of the keys to a life of faith, to believe that all things are possible with Him. When I get discouraged, these truths give me hope and the perseverance to keep believing.

So, the Seattle Seahawks are off the Super Bowl once again! Seattle is Seahawks crazy once again! May the best team...the team that perseveres to the end...win!