Over the weekend, the NCAA Tournament once again delivered amazing games, surprising upsets, and fun storylines. The Sweet 16 is set and as we reflect on the first two rounds of March Madness, let's take a look at the ways some teams were surprisingly overwhelmed:
On Friday night, 16-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson pulled off the unthinkable upset of 1-seeded Purdue by overwhelming them with speed, aggressiveness, and athleticism. However, their magical run was cut short Sunday night after Florida Atlantic overwhelmed FDU by having even more speed and athleticism with size.
Furman got the exciting upset win over Virginia on Thursday, but then on Saturday, they were overwhelmed by the length and connectivity of San Diego State's defense.
Princeton pulled off two shocking upsets as a 15 seed, and against Missouri, they overwhelmed them on the glass. Princeton won the rebounding battle 44-30, including 16 offensive rebounds leading to 19 second-chance points.
Unfortunately, my favorite team, Duke, lost after being overwhelmed by the physicality of Tennesee.
Alabama overwhelmed Maryland with their potent offense, outscoring them 45-28 in the second half.
Arkansas’ Davonte Davis scored 25 points and was overwhelmed with emotion following their victory over the reigning champs, Kansas, during his postgame interview.
Michigan State knocked off 2-seeded Marquette by overwhelming Big East Player of the Year, Tyler Kolek, resulting in him scoring only seven points while having six turnovers, and four fouls.
While teams were knocked out of the tournament after being overwhelmed by their opponent's defense, offense, 3-point shooting, or toughness, as fans, we were overwhelmed by the excitement, the number of games going on at once, and the number of upsets that busted our brackets! Beyond being overwhelmed by the madness of March, most of us are very familiar with being overwhelmed in life. So what is overwhelming us today? Is it…
Stress or worry
Too many responsibilities
Decisions we have to make
Bad things going on in the world
Pressure
Trying to keep up appearances
The needs of people around us
The negative list can go on and on, but I want to flip things around and encourage us to be overwhelmed in a completely different way. What if today, we allowed ourselves to be overwhelmed by…
God’s love
God’s grace
God’s glory
God’s mercy
God’s power
God’s goodness
God’s greatness
God’s kindness
God’s compassion
How often are we overcome with gratitude by the incredible truth that Jesus came to earth, died, and rose again and made a way for us to spend eternity with Him? Do we ever take time to pause and be overwhelmed by how He’s transformed our lives and continues to change our hearts as we seek Him? Are we overwhelmed by God’s creation, resulting in awe, wonder, and worship of Him, the Creator? What if we were overwhelmed by His presence and overcome with humility for how He’s saved us, how He wants to know us, that He deeply cares about us, and continues to bless us abundantly in so many ways? In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul writes about how God has revealed the mystery of Christ and the good news of salvation. He says in verses 12-21 (NLT), “Because of Christ and our faith in Him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored. When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. "I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. "May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.” Today, let’s allow God Himself to overwhelm us as we are overtaken by His love, grace, and presence. It won’t knock us out of the tournament, but it will knock us to our knees. I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that! PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray I’d be overwhelmed by You instead of being overwhelmed by the stresses of this life. I know I can’t understand Your love fully, but please help me to be overwhelmed by how incredible it is. I desire to be aware of Your presence and to rest in it. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for Your willingness to save a sinner like me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR PACKS:
1. What in life is overwhelming you?
2. In what ways are you most overwhelmed by God today?
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