North Murray-Go Again, Go Again

1 Kings 18:41–44 NKJV

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” 44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ ”

“Then Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.’”

Elijah then went to the top of Mount Carmel, bowed down, and began to pray. He told his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.”

The servant returned and said, “There is nothing.”

“And seven times he said, ‘Go again.’”

For more than three years, Israel had experienced an extreme drought.

There was no rain. Streams were drying up. Crops could not grow. Animals were dying, and people were struggling to survive.

Every day, they looked into the same empty sky.

No clouds.

No rain.

No relief.

After three years, the drought probably no longer felt temporary. It felt permanent.

That is what prolonged adversity does to you.

When you struggle long enough, you can begin believing that nothing will ever change.

When you lose repeatedly, you can begin expecting to lose again.

Israel had experienced three years without rain.

This team has experienced three games without a win.

For the first time in his career, Coach is 0-3

A three game losing streak is not equal to a three year famine, but both can create the same dangerous thought:

“Maybe this is simply who we are.”

But Israel’s story did not end with the drought.

Your story does not have to end with three losses.

The Real Problem

The drought was not Israel’s greatest problem.

The dry ground was revealing what had already happened inside the people’s hearts.

Israel had turned away from God. They had forgotten who they were and whom they belonged to. They were worshiping Baal, a false god they believed controlled the rain.

They were living wrong because they were seeing life through the wrong eyes.

They no longer knew whom they belonged to or what they were living for.

Before God changed the weather, He confronted their hearts.

Elijah gathered Israel on Mount Carmel and asked:

“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him.”

In other words:

Decide who you are.

Decide whom you belong to.

Decide what you are living for.

That is a question this team must answer:

What are you fighting for?

If you are playing only for a winning record, a losing streak can take away your reason to fight.

But if you are fighting for something greater than yourself, three losses cannot take that away.

You are fighting for the man beside you.

You are representing your coaches, your families, your school, and your community.

You are building the kind of man you will become long after football ends.

Most importantly, you have an opportunity to honor God with the ability He has given you, with your effort, attitude, and character.

Football will eventually end.

Your character will follow you for the rest of your life.

You must know who you are, whom you represent, and what you are fighting for.

Last Year’s Team

Last year’s team went through the regular season undefeated.

They knew how to win. They knew how to play with a lead. They knew what it felt like when everything was working.

But when the season reached the moment that mattered most, they lost.

That does not erase what they accomplished. They had an incredible season.

But an undefeated record does not necessarily prepare a team for adversity.

Last year’s team learned how to win early.

This team should be learning how to fight.

You are learning how to get knocked down and rise again.

You are learning how to keep working when the results have not appeared.

You are learning how to stay together when it would be easier to blame one another.

The adversity you experience now may be preparing you to stand when the games matter most.

The drought can make you bitter, or it can make you stronger.

It can divide you, or it can bring you together.

It can convince you to quit, or it can teach you to go again.

The Sound of Rain

Before the rain came, Elijah repaired the altar of God that had been broken down. He prayed, and God sent fire from heaven.

When Israel saw it, the people fell on their faces and cried:

“The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

Their hearts changed before their circumstances changed.

They remembered who they were and whom they belonged to.

Only then did Elijah declare:

“There is the sound of abundance of rain.”

Before the situation around this team changes, something may need to change inside this team.

Before the scoreboard changes, your thinking must change.

Before the results change, your preparation must change.

Before the season changes, your commitment to one another must change.

When Elijah announced that rain was coming, there was not a cloud in the sky.

No rain was falling.

No thunder was sounding.

Everything he could see still said drought.

Everyone else saw dry ground.

Elijah heard the sound of abundance.

Sometimes faith means refusing to allow your present circumstances to determine what you believe is possible.

Three losses tell you what happened in the first three games.

They do not tell you what must happen next.

Your record describes where you have been.

It does not decide where you are going.

God has not promised you a particular score. But this drought does not have to define this team.

A team can come together.

Leaders can emerge.

Mistakes can be corrected.

Confidence can return.

A season can turn around.

There may be an abundance of rain on the other side of this drought.

“Go Again”

Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel, bowed down, and began to pray.

Then he told his servant:

“Go up and look toward the sea.”

The servant looked carefully and returned with a discouraging report:

“There is nothing.”

No cloud.

No rain.

No visible evidence that anything was changing.

Elijah could have quit.

Instead, he said:

“Go again.”

The servant climbed a second time.

Nothing.

“Go again.”

A third time.

Nothing.

“Go again.”

A fourth, fifth, and sixth time.

Still nothing.

Each time, Elijah said:

“Go again.”

Finally, on the seventh trip, the servant returned and said:

“There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea.”

It did not look like much.

But that small cloud was the beginning of an enormous storm.

I want to say this, To every player on this team, The town may talk, your class mates may talk, but who cares? Your coaches haven’t given up on you.

I know in the middle of the fight, when no one has an answer, you may be tempted to think that you are alone. But, no one has given up on you. This is a team, from spring practice to the last game, we are one.

Before long, the sky became black, the wind began to blow, and the rain poured down.

The drought was over.

What if the servant had stopped after the sixth trip?

He would have stopped one trip before he saw the cloud.

This team has climbed the hill three times.

Three times, you have prepared and played.

Three times, you have walked away disappointed.

Now you have a choice.

You can decide the drought will continue, or you can go again.

Return to practice and go again.

Study your assignment and go again.

Trust your coaches and go again.

Encourage your teammates and go again.

Take the field and go again.

You may be closer to the cloud than you realize.

Get Back Up

Proverbs 24:16 says:

“For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again.”

It does not say that the righteous man never falls.

What distinguishes him is that he refuses to remain down.

You will lose some battles.

You will miss assignments.

You will make plays you wish you could have back.

But one bad play does not have to become two bad plays.

One bad quarter does not have to become a bad game.

Three losses do not have to become four.

When you get knocked down, get up.

When you miss a tackle, pursue the ball.

When you make a mistake, learn from it.

When the previous play goes badly, return to the huddle and go again.

Closing Challenge

When other people doubt that this team can turn things around:

Go again.

When they judge you by the last three games:

Go again.

When the scoreboard is not what you want:

Go again.

When you make a mistake and want to put your head down:

Go again.

When your body is tired and your mind tells you that you have nothing left:

Go again.

When you look toward the horizon and see no rain:

Go again.

When there is not a single cloud in the sky:

Go again.

When you have worked, practiced, and prepared, but cannot see the results:

Go again.

When everybody else sees a drought, keep listening for the sound of rain.

When everybody else remembers three losses, remember that the next game has not been played.

When everybody else sees what this team has been, see what this team can become.

Last year’s team knew how to win.

This team is learning how to rise.

This team is learning how to fight.

This team is learning how to remain united when others expect you to fall apart.

Maybe this team has been in a drought.

Maybe you have looked toward the horizon three times and seen nothing.

But three losses do not mean the rain will never come.

There may be a cloud rising that you cannot see yet.

There may be an abundance of rain on the other side of this drought.

But you will never see it if you stop climbing the hill.

Know who you are.

Know whom you represent.

Know what you are fighting for.

Fight for the man beside you.

Honor your coaches, families, school, and community.

Honor God with your effort, attitude, and character.

When others doubt:

Go again.

When you see no rain:

Go again.

When the clouds are gone:

Go again.

When you get knocked down:

Get back up and go again.

When you have already gone again and still see nothing:

Go again.

The drought does not have to be the end of this team’s story.

A cloud may already be rising.

Do not stop now.

Go again.

Go again.

Go again.