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God doesn’t always work the way we think He should. Sometimes the things that we think are tragedies turn out to be blessings. In the Bible, Joseph serves as the perfect example of tragedy-turned-blessing. When Joseph received a dream foreshadowing his role to reign over his brothers, his brothers grew angry and sold him into slavery. When Joseph was later falsely accused of a crime and thrown into prison, it seemed that his dream would never come true.
When a player gets double teamed up against the boards they know their in trouble. As they battle for the puck, they’ll often hear a familiar voice of someone on their team calling out instructions on a safe place to pass it. They would stay in trouble and lose the puck if someone didn’t call out to them.
In conversation with a student this week, we talked about the intense competitiveness of guys and how in a recent intramural game, students nearly came to blows. It got me to thinking about tests, not necessarily the most pleasant of topics for students at this time of the year!
In my younger days, I was very competitive and hated to lose or to perform badly. I threw tennis rackets, slammed my hand down on ball returns, and murmured expletives to myself when I missed jump shots. Then I made the decision to follow Jesus and every time I picked up a ball or a racket, the test began. Did Jesus really make any difference in my life?
Rulon Gardner and Dremiel Byers were both vying for one spot on the 2004 U.S. Olympic wrestling team. Gardner was the 2000 Olympic gold medalist and 2001 World Champion and Byers the 2002 World Champion. Gardner won a pair of 2-1 overtime matches at the Olympic Trials and Byers laid down his pride and went to Athens to help prepare his friend for another gold-medal run by serving as his training partner. Gardner came home with the bronze medal and a gold-medal friend. Would he have done the same for Byers? No doubt about it!
Have you ever had a change of plans? This week I was at a friend’s house planning to eat dinner and watch a movie and just relax. It had been a busy work day after a busy weekend, and I still had another conference the next morning. We wanted to just sit and relax for an evening, but God had other plans. My friend had forgotten that he had committed us to speak at another church opportunity. So, off we went.
God’s Word is very clear that when we have the opportunity to bring the Good Word, we are to seize the moment. Second Timothy 4 tells us to preach the Word whether now or later. When opportunity knocks, we are to speak out for Christ whether to a group of two or 200. We must take the chance to share about God with those who are willing to listen.
Glory – it is such a simple word. It is what all of us play the game for. We want the glory associated with being an athlete. We want to be recognized for our skill. Who doesn’t want to win a championship this year? How many times have you put your goals for the season down and listed “To NOT be remembered”?
At first glance, we have it all messed up. We should not want to get the entire spotlight. We should want to be a team player. We should not want to be so focused that we “win at all costs.” It’s in the nature of a competitor to “go for it.” Shouldn’t we want to be that focused?
It’s not from the world of sports, but it is what we’re all talking about today: the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas. There are so many questions to be answered, so many emotions to be addressed, so much pain to be endured. Our prayers are with the families of those killed and wounded today as they pick up the pieces and begin life under very new circumstances.
How many times do you make a promise and really keep it? Every day, my 7-year-old comes to me with my baseball glove and asks me to play catch. I sometimes catch myself saying, “I promise, in a few minutes.” Then he walks away, and time goes by without me keeping my word. He gets disappointed, and I feel bad for forgetting. I never intend to go back on my word, but it does happen from time to time.
One thing we know from God and His Word is that when He makes a promise, He always follows through. Here is a great definition of a promise: an assurance that God gives His people so that they can walk by faith while they wait for Him to work. Here are four promises that God has given us:
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