Let’s face it: sometimes you don’t get picked for the team.

Sometimes the love you thought would last for a lifetime doesn’t pan out.

Sometimes you don’t get the job you just knew was meant for you.

Sometimes the big promotion goes to someone else.

Sometimes you don’t make the team.

Sometimes, they just don’t pick you.

And when that happens, it can be one of life’s most painful experiences. Lots of people are going through this right now, with endless job searches, mortgage loan modifications that take forever to come through if they do at all and marriages frayed by financial worries. And even if you’re blessed to have a job, getting noticed and getting promoted is more difficult than ever.

Lots of us feel like we’re on the bench.

Being benched, on the surface, can feel like a sad thing. But I think many of us are missing the blessings of the bench. Think about it: when you’re on the bench, you get some much needed rest. You can watch the team play, and assess how you would do things differently and better. You can come up with a strategy for when it’s finally your turn to get in the game.

And if you look around, you might meet some pretty awesome people who are also benched. I met one of my dearest, best friends sitting on the bleachers – literally – during freshman girl’s PE in high school. Take that, kickball.

But most importantly, you get time to realize that it just wasn’t your team, wasn’t your game or maybe both.

You see, the worst thing that can happen to you isn’t getting rejected by the team, it’s getting picked by the wrong team. Imagine wasting your time – even your life – playing a sport that’s not your game with a team of people you don’t fully click with.

There is a game out there that is your game. And there is a group of people out there who will get you, embrace you, toss you the ball and cheer you on to be the best you can be.

Until you find them, enjoy your time on the bench. Have some popcorn and a Coke, and maybe, if you are very lucky, you’ll make a friend who will join you for season after season of wins and laugh later with you about all the fun you had together – on the bench.

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other.” —Ecclesiastes 7:14