Everyone watching Penrith’s 19-12 victory over the Roosters in the opening week of the NRL finals knew that the game was still far from over when the field goal went over.
Nathan Cleary had put the Panthers 13-12 ahead with nine minutes remaining, but there was no ultimate sense of celebration. There was still a game to win.
The Roosters kept coming, and Penrith had to hold on.
For several minutes, the Panthers simply had to defend their one-point advantage. They couldn’t manufacture the moment they wanted. They couldn’t force the game to end.
They could only stay composed, keep working and wait. Then the opportunity came.
A loose ball fell into the path of Brian To’o, who pounced and raced away to seal the Panthers’ victory.
It was a simple sequence, but one that got me thinking about something much bigger than rugby league.
Because there are plenty of moments in life when we find ourselves in that space between knowing we have made progress and actually seeing the outcome we want.
We pray for something, but the answer doesn’t come immediately. We go to Confession, receive the grace of forgiveness, and yet still have to fight the same temptations. We make a difficult decision we believe is right, but the circumstances around us don’t suddenly become easier.
We can sometimes expect that once we have taken the right step, everything else should fall into place.
But it doesn’t always work that way. Sometimes, the field goal goes over and we still have to defend.
That is where perseverance becomes so important in the Christian life. Christ tells us, “He who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13).
Perseverance isn’t particularly glamorous. It often doesn’t look like a spectacular moment of faith. Sometimes it simply looks like continuing to do what is right when we cannot yet see where it is leading.
That is what Penrith had to do after Cleary’s field goal.
They couldn’t know when the opportunity would come. They couldn’t know that To’o would be the one to find the loose ball. They could only remain ready.
And when the moment finally arrived, he was there.
I think there is something deeply comforting in that for us as Christians.
We can become frustrated when we cannot see how a difficult situation will resolve itself. We want to know the plan. We want to know when the answer is coming.
But our faith tells us to trust God even when we don’t have those answers.
Our job is not always to make the decisive play. Sometimes, it is simply to remain faithful until God opens the next door.
Cleary’s field goal gave Penrith the lead. But they still had to persevere before they could win. And perhaps our own lives are sometimes the same.
The grace has been given. The direction has been shown. But the game isn’t over yet.
So we hold on, remain faithful, trust God and wait for the loose ball to come our way.
