Focus: Facing Opposition Clearly Under Stress

Now, because Pittsburg understood that these two “very good players” were game changers if left to play their game, they made a plan. (Remember that roaring lion walking around seeking someone to devour? If you knew the lion was after you would you not increase your focus on not being caught?) These two players did not realize that they were the focus of Pittsburg – they would be Pittsburg’s game changers! Throughout the game Pittsburgh’s offensive linemen and receivers blocked and pushed these two players – just a little past the whistle. You could see them “jawing” (raising their voices and probably cursing) at these players – just a little past the whistle. Everyone knows that talking trash is part of the game and I’m sure Pittsburgh “jawed” at all of the Cincinnati players and vice versa. But you could tell by their reactions that, at some point, the two Cincinnati players got fed up with what was happening and starting yelling at the Pittsburgh players and even pushing them – just a little past the whistle. Pittsburg had studied these two players in the film room. Pittsburgh had identified their emotional buttons. Whatever those buttons were Pittsburgh pushed them over and over again throughout the game. Why? They needed one of these players to become so focused on what was happening to him that he would forget about his job and the team’s game plan. Did you hear me? When we begin to focus on what is happening “to” us we lose focus on what we are supposed to be doing.

Pittsburgh used a strategy that, when executed properly, has predictable results: get into the opponent’s head and cause him to become so emotionally involved in what is happening to him that he self-destructs and hurts the team. And it worked. With less than 90 seconds left to play and trailing 16-15, Pittsburgh starts deep in its own territory. After getting a first down, the culmination of all the “jawing” and pushing throughout the game pays off and changes the outcome of the contest. Both the young linebacker and seasoned cornerback commit 15 yard personal fouls on the same play. The 30 yards in penalties moved Pittsburgh, with seconds to play, from the Cincinnati 47 yard line to the Cincinnati 17 yard line. Pittsburgh kicks a field goal as time expires and wins the game 18-16. The less talented team had strategically overcome, not defeated, the more talented team. The Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t defeat the Cincinnati Bengals. The Cincinnati Bengals lost the game because two players had self-destructed.

Satan works on the body of Christ in much the same way. He knows that “on paper” he has no shot at victory. None! He knows that the life that lives in us is capable of, listen to me, never experiencing defeat. He has to convince us to ignore that life and defeat ourselves – to self-destruct – and too many of us are obliged to do so. This again is his only hope. Some of you may remember “The Flip Wilson Show.” One of the characters he played was Geraldine. When she got caught doing something wrong her response was “The devil made me do it.” But the reality is this: Satan cannot make us do anything if we are a born again child of God. He needs us to hold his hand in agreement. This is Satan’s only hope. He needs our cooperation in order to make the reality he desires for us to become a reality in our life. And he does this by “jawing” at us every day, all day until we open the door to him. He wants us to do what the Cincinnati players did. Because the referee had not addressed “their issues” during the game, the constant “jawing” and pushing and resulting frustration led to the young linebacker and the seasoned cornerback to act independently of the team’s game plan, to play outside the rules of the game and to handle things themselves. The result: 30 yards in penalties.