Thankful in Victory

I have lived in a coach’s house my entire life; My dad was a coach, I have coached, and I am married to a coach. There have been a lot of conversations about victories--wanting victories, needing victories, and being thankful in victories. There was a particular season when my husband was a head coach that was rough; there were not many victories to be celebrated. One night he was being extremely hard on himself after a specific loss, and I remember saying to him what I heard from our pastor, “If we take all the blame for the losses, we are more likely to take all the credit for the wins.” I can find myself doing something similar. When things are going good (victories), I tend to credit myself, but when things are going bad (losses), I tend to blame others or even God. The key to being humble in victory is being thankful for victory.

As the King of Israel, King David fought in many battles and won many victories. King David understood that victory may come through his hands, but the victory never came from his hands. He knew how important it was to be thankful in victory and to give God the glory not because God needed it, but because David couldn’t handle it on his own. After the Lord rescued David from all his enemies, he sang a song of praise, “Oh Lord, you are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness. In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. God’s way is perfect. All the Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. For who is God except the Lord” (2 Samuel 22: 29-32).

Every victory we don’t turn into praise has an opportunity to turn into pride. When we give God praise for the victories, we are being thankful in victory. From the victories in our sports to the victory we have been given over death through Jesus Christ, let us give thankful praise in our victories!