Team Jesus: No Tryout Needed

Today’s reading is Philippians 3:1-21.

Over the last few years as our kids are getting older, I’ve found that July and August are 2 of my favorite months of the year because we have a break between Summer and Fall activities giving us a lot more family nights at home, as well as weekends. It is also one of my least favorite times of the year because it is when we do tryouts for the baseball and basketball teams I help coach. Trying to be fair to both those kids who played for you last season and to those who only get a few hours to show their skills to determine who should fill an open spot or possibly replace an existing player is really tough to say the least. Many kids and families are going to be disappointed. While facing challenges and disappointments are a part of life that all must learn to deal with at some point it just never feels good when you are partly responsible as a coach helping to make these decisions. It is impossible to make everyone happy. There is so much good that comes out of these teams with new kids and family relationships built, the spiritual development of the kids in our faith-based organization I am a part of, and the improvement on the court and field.  It is so fun to try to help them, make an impact, and see their growth and development. However, we also see a lot of the politics and ugly side come out during tryout time. Parents want to get their child on the best team they feel will win, get their child playing time, and even play a certain position. Is that wrong? Can you blame them with the time and money they are investing in these teams for their child? I know my wife and I want the best fit for our children. Coaches also try to recruit players off of other teams and don’t always handle the situations of how to part ways with a past player for a new player the most gracefully. It’s complicated. It’s tough. No judgement here. We are all human which means we make mistakes and don’t always handle things the best way.

You don’t have to look too far today to see anxiety, depression, and substance abuse are a huge problem today. We are both more connected to everyone on social media and yet more isolated because of it. We see everyone’s highlight-reel 24-7. I don’t know how many championships and MVPs I see posted on Sunday each week and dream vacations and kids’ and professional awards in between (I post them, too). This creates “fear of missing out” or commonly referred to as FOMO. Competition is good in pushing us to get the most out of our God-given talents, but we live in a society where comparison consumes our society. I really like the quote, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” Comparison is robbing us of the joy to appreciate the simple moments in life with our own family and our own kids and appreciating their specific God-given talents and abilities.

I love sports and believe they can be used to glorify God. However, what is more important….what our child’s batting average is and how many trophies they win or if they develop into a person who loves Jesus, loves their family, and uses to the maximum whatever gifts God has given them in life now and as an adult (which are likely outside of sports)? We also must realize that what we see on social media is not all that is going on in someone’s life. No one’s life is perfect. They have challenges going on they are not sharing which they are dealing with like sickness, pain, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, relationship, or financial issues. They have problems just like you may be facing . It’s like the family picture who everyone says looks so cute, but you remember the screaming and crying that took place 2 minutes before and after no one knows about. We need to stop thinking someone else’s highlight reel should be our everyday. We forget how blessed we are personally.

In these verses Paul gives us some great takeaways to apply. In Philippians 3:13-14. he tells us to forget what lies behind, the past and to move on to the ultimate goal to the prize of Jesus Christ. We’ve all made mistakes. He’s telling us to forget them. Paul talks about competition a lot and seems to love sports, but he’s telling us to reflect on if earthly trophies which will break and get thrown away are more important or our crown in Heaven from a relationship with Jesus which will last eternity? He tells us in the very first verse of Philippians 3:1 to rejoice in the Lord, not championships.

We all want more. We want our kids to be on the best team and go to the best school. We all want to go on the best vacations, have the best spouse, and have the best job. We all want to belong.  However, Paul tells us in Philippians 3:20..

But our citizenship is in Heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to himself.

There is no FOMO for the most important team we want us and all our children to be on for eternity. No tryout is needed. We don’t have to do any earthly thing to make the team. We are already on it not through our doing, but through His sacrifice and grace given on the cross.  We’ve already made it through faith when we believe and accept Jesus into our heart.

Have you accepted the invite to Team Jesus? Have your children? Are you and your family rejoicing in belonging to the most important team there is? I pray that all the kids and families who did or did not make teams this time of year can find peace and joy in this which is what is most important.

Suffering

Today we explore suffering. Jesus was called the Man of Sorrow and also known as one Familiar with Suffering. It was even foretold in Isaiah 53 that he would be despised, rejected, not esteemed. He would suffer. GREATLY. God perfectly designed Jesus to be fully human and experience all the highs and lows of the physical life. Some of those lows are recounted in John 11:35 when Jesus wept over his friend Lazarus’ death, and in Luke 19:41 when he wept over the city of Jerusalem. A vivid moment of sorrow is in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is disappointed that the disciples couldn’t stay awake, all the while he is praying and asking his Father to “take the cup from me” if it be His will. He knew the suffering that was going to begin, and he reveals his human emotions, completely aware of what the cross would entail.

Jesus, being fully God, also knew that Lazarus would come back to life, yet he still wept. He also knew the victory he would have over death, defeating the grave, yet he was still sorrowful and troubled. I love how God revealed his heart to us, showing us the full range of emotion. We are created in his image and the sorrow we experience is real.

Jesus’ death on the cross was the ultimate physical suffering, and then he experienced the greatest spiritual suffering when he took on the sins of the entire world and was separated from his Father. He did this for us – so we could be with him forever. Our sin separated him from the Father, and Jesus experienced the loss (Mark 15:34).

Nothing in my life comes close to that level of suffering. It’s hard to even call my experiences “suffering” when thinking of the true suffering that Jesus endured.

When I reflect on the more difficult seasons in my life, even now in hindsight, I have to admit that I wouldn’t choose them. While I have complete faith that God’s perfect will prevails and He will use any suffering I have experienced, I can’t say I’m to the point where I count it all joy, or even pray for tribulations and suffering. I’m so inspired by those that do, and face it so bravely. As God continues to sanctify me, I have confidence that one day I will genuinely rejoice in the scary medical diagnoses, challenging family dynamics, major marital strains, and unexpected deaths.

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Romans 5:3-4

In searching my own heart, I find that I don’t like the lack of control and the unknown that comes with suffering (in addition to the actual suffering part). Sounds pretty obvious, right?

You may have picked up in past posts that I dabble in running. The past 25 years, there have been seasons of running for fun, running for health reasons, running socially, or running to reach goals. Each season is different and I’ve enjoyed all of them (and the dry spells). Running to reach goals includes an amount of physical suffering. Runners sometimes call this the pain cave, this place where you are intentionally positioning your body to suffer. And you don’t choose to run hard workouts so the pain lessons or it gets easier, runners choose this so they can endure the suffering longer. This chosen “suffering” is controlled and calculated. There’s an end to it, and you know there will be gains. Runners embrace this suffering in order to achieve goals. This hit me right between the eyes when trying to overlay this chosen suffering to unwanted suffering. Are there certain hard things in your life you’re able to choose, and other hard things you wish you could end?

I love how we are challenged to truly rejoice in suffering! How amazing to be so filled with the Holy Spirit that we choose hard things on this earth! And let’s be honest, any of my suffering is so much different than the true suffering of Christ. God hasn’t given me a calling that lands me in jail, I haven’t been beaten or persecuted for my faith. My experiences can hardly be called suffering or compared to Jesus’s suffering.

So what about you? Where does this topic land on you? Are you praying for trials and rejoicing in suffering? If not, what do you think is holding you back? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Embracing God’s Ways: Habakkuk

Through his back and forth dialogue with the Lord, the prophet Habakkuk gives us so many lessons in just three chapters. As he tries to understand God’s ways, he learns to embrace them, which is the very definition of his name.

Here’s a breakdown of the three chapters:Chapter Dialogue Outline

I love that Habakkuk has boldness to ask the Lord what’s on his heart. He doesn’t shy away from the tough questions of why, when, how, (and then more ‘why’ questions).  He’s asking similar questions I find myself pondering today:

Why do you allow evil, God? Why do awful things happen to Christ-followers? The helpless? The unborn?

Why are you allowing the wicked to prosper?  When will they be judged? This world is a hot mess – hurry! 

As you read through this dialogue, do you notice how Habakkuk verbalizes to God his character in verse twelve? It seems as though he is reminding himself who God is, right as he is asking God his second round of ‘why’ questions.

He knows that God is holy, everlasting, eternal, a mighty rock, an establisher, and faithful. He even says We will not die. He knows that God will not let them die, and will continue to fulfill his promise to his people (Abrahamic covenant).

As Habakkuk continues with his questions – WHY use THEM? I have to admit I’ve had similar thoughts. And then I also can’t help but wonder WHY God uses ME. Or any of us. While the world wants to live in the comparison game, we know that only God’s judgement is righteous and fair. He isn’t looking at me compared to anyone else. On judgement day I will be standing solo. The Chaldeans may have made the people of Judah look less awful… but God saw wickedness across the board. And He uses it all as He sees fit. And judges it when and how He sees fit.

I can see where God has used sin committed against me, to sanctify me. Draw me closer to him. Cry out to him. And the sins I have committed against others, He also uses. It’s pretty humbling to think of how He can use even my biggest messes.

In the final chapter, we see Habakkuk embracing God’s plan. He praises God for who he is and what he has done and what we will do. Do you see the three Selah pauses in this chapter? I always think of those as a dramatic call to silence and meditation in that moment of the passage.

And then at the end of verse 16 we see him waiting. Waiting on the Lord’s timing. Waiting on the Lord’s plan. Quietly waiting, all the while he is trembling. What a beautiful picture of faith – it doesn’t mean that we are without worry or fear, but that with the trembling, we obey. We quietly wait for the Lord. Not only does he quietly wait – verse 18 shows us that he also rejoices! So he has gone from questioning, to embracing, to rejoicing!

Can you apply Habakkuk’s approach to any questions or problems you’re facing today?

I get lost in the confusion of our political climate and ask a lot of why, when and how questions about world issues. I’m going to try to process those in light of Habakkuk’s example. What do I know about God and how can I more fully trust in his eternal and perfect plan?

I have challenging relationships that need this wisdom, and the reminder to not get stuck in the comparison trap. God uses each of us in different ways, that are far beyond my understanding.

Can I rejoice and find true joy in the Lord, even when I  _______ his plan?

        • am worried about
        • don’t like
        • am confused by
        • am trembling about
        • don’t want to wait for

God, thanks for giving us this amazing true account of your relationship with your prophet, Habakkuk! It teaches us so much about who you are and to have faith in you. You are Holy, Eternal, Almighty, and Faithful!

Rejoice, Repent, Relinquish

1 Samuel 2 & Psalms 3

In today’s readings we follow three attitudes and approaches to God from three different people (Hannah, the Sons of Eli, David). 1 Samuel outlines Hannah’s song of praise and then in contrast, the choices of the worthless sons of Eli.  Turning to Psalms we find David’s prayer of trust in God.

After years of praying and waiting, Hannah is blessed with a son, Samuel, and her response is one of genuine joy and gratitude. She declares in this prayer-song who the Lord is, what He has done, and what He will do.  His knowledge and judgement are perfect: He makes the feeble strong, feeds the hungry, brings babies to the barren, poor become rich, exalts the lowly, and protects His faithful. Her worship to the Lord with her words is a foreshadowing of Mary’s song in Luke 1, praising God for who He is and what He has done.

Meanwhile, Eli’s sons continue to disobey God and are called worthless men who do not know the Lord. One of the transgressions detailed is their taking advantage and dishonoring the sacrifices to God from the people. Eli rebukes his sons, and instead of responding with sorrow and repentance for their sin, they continue in a sinful lifestyle – even sleeping with servant women at the temple entrance. They demonstrate complete disregard for Eli’s admonishment, and most of all for God. They are arrogant in their positions as Eli’s sons and ‘servants of the priest’, and it is known among Israel.

Fast-forward to Psalm 3, David’s prayer-song to God of the events unfolding (that come later in 2 Samuel 15-16).  David’s son Absalom has created a conspiracy against David and has turned the people against him. As David flees from Jerusalem to the Jordan river, he cries out to the Lord. Verses 1 & 2 outline the reality of David’s situation and what he is up against – many, MANY enemies that are against him and almost taunting his faith and salvation. I love verse 3, the turning point in this song, beginning with “But YOU, Oh Lord…”, David’s hope and fear is in the Lord, not in man. He declares God’s protection, answering, and sustaining, even when he is surrounded. He turns it over to God and His trust is in Him alone.

These three scenarios leave us with examples of how we can respond to God.  Both Hannah and David declare WHO God is, what He has done, and what He will do.  One after experiencing a miracle and the other in a plea for protection and prayer of trust.  And finally, we have an example that leads to destruction: responding to God with continued sin and rebellion. I can’t read these accounts without examining my own response to God.

In times of blessings and miracles right in front of me, do I stop and praise God for His perfect provision and timing? What a beautiful example of rejoicing Hannah gives us! Whether it be something small that the world may brush off as coincidence, or something much bigger that is clearly divine, do I give God all the glory? Do I continually believe in WHO God is and WHAT He will do?

In times of Godly correction, can I soften my heart to repent or will I rebel even more? Maybe it’s a prompting from the Holy Spirit showing me my sin, a sister in Christ sharing a truth I need to hear, or a scripture speaking right to me.  I can look back at times when my response was much more like Eli’s worthless sons, rationalizing and justifying my actions, instead of turning to God with sorrow for my sin.

In times of desperation, like David, can I turn my fear into faith? Do I say ‘But YOU, Oh Lord…’ when faced with trials that seem unfair? Am I willing to believe that His judgement and justice is best?  David could have fought to stay in Jerusalem and clear his name, instead he chose to protect his followers and flee to keep them out of harm’s way. Can I praise Him in the midst of fear and heartache? Am I willing to let God fight my battles and relinquish the control I think I have?

Lord, you ARE the Almighty, King of all Kings. Your ways are far beyond my understanding. Thank you for showing me grace and patience as I repent for my sin and rebellion. Please give me the rejoicing heart of Hannah and the relinquishing trust of David. Amen.