Faith Matters

Busted Brackets What to do when life doesn't play out as predicted

What to do when life doesn’t play out as predicted

Like millions of other people, I watched last weekend as my brackets got busted.

The NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament has become one of the best sporting events of the year. Sixty-eight teams vie for the national championship. And millions of people across the country predict the outcomes of all of the games.

For a couple of days in our offices, homes or job sites, we argue with each other about the difficulty of Iowa State's nonconference schedule or how Georgetown got over-seated. For a few days in March, we all act like we have the same basketball knowledge as Dick Vitale or Jay Bilas.

Until the games start.

The games change everything. They bring us crashing back to earth with the realization that we don't really know all that much about college basketball, and even if we did, it wouldn't help us predict who was going to win the games.

By the second day of this year's tournament, out of more than 11 million brackets submitted on ESPN, only one was still correct. One out of 11 million. And it's now no longer perfect.

We can watch games, listen to people in-the-know, apply the best analytics ... and still be completely unable to correctly predict how things are actually going to play out.

That's exactly like life, isn't it?

When we have decisions to make in life, we will sit down and think things through. We'll employ wisdom and good counsel, along with lessons learned from life experiences, to predict how things are going to go. It makes sense to take this job. This is a relationship I think I should invest in. It would be good to make this move.

Then things don't go the way we expect. Our brackets get busted. And we're left with trying to figure out what went wrong and how to put the pieces back together again.

Like everyone else, I know a thing or two about life not playing out the way I thought it would. I've worked for two companies that closed their doors. When we moved to Northwest Arkansas, we were unable to sell our home in Michigan, and it was eventually foreclosed. I've put time and care and concern into friendships that came to abrupt ends.

The question each one of us has to wrestle with is not, "Are things going to go the way I predicted they would?" but rather, "How am I going to react when things go badly?"

When our NCAA tournament brackets get busted, we can wad up the paper, throw it in the trash and just enjoy the games. When life gets busted, it's not that easy.

I've known many people who have turned their frustrations about life toward God. They get angry that God would allow bad things to happen. God disappoints them when life doesn't live up to their expectations.

That's an understandable reaction. But it might not be the best one. I would rather think of God as loving and supporting me rather than out to get me. Rather than blaming God, I'd like to think God has something greater or better in mind for me.

That's not to suggest we should gloss over our feelings of pain and disappointment. In fact, I think that's as bad a reaction to have as any.

Being a follower of Jesus doesn't mean everything is going to go OK in life, and it also doesn't mean we have to piously pretend to be alright with everything. It's good and healthy to cry, to grieve, to mourn. Acknowledging our pain -- not ignoring it -- actually leads us deeper into the heart of God.

It's also important to keep going. Disappointment can be debilitating. We've all wanted to quit at times. We've all felt overwhelmed by the grief. But each day is a fresh opportunity to be surprised by the mysteries of life. Hope has a way of being reborn in us. As the author of Hebrews once beautifully said, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who has promised is faithful."

So may you be unsurprised when your brackets get busted. And may your pain and disappointment draw you deeper into faith and hope in the God who loves you.

NAN Religion on 03/28/2015

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