OK. Let's start out with some groundwork. I'm presupposing a belief in God, so all of my messages will start with that important assumption. For those of you who wish to argue whether God exists, I'm very open to this discussion and I may come back to that, but for now; God Exists! :)
I believe that most confusion/sorrow/anxiety/stress/fear/anger in our life has to do with our view of God, our attitude towards Him and whether we believe He takes an active or passive role in our life and in our world. This might not be very intuitive to some, so let's look at a strange example.
You've just turned on the news to find that your favorite football team won their game earlier that day. You know the final score, and you realize that you video-taped the game and decide to watch it, even though you know the result.
The beginning of the game looks pretty bad. The other team scores on the first play. When your team gets the ball, you watch painfully as they are unable to make any headway against the other team's defense. After punting away the ball, the other team moves the ball down the field, but you start noticing something; the referees seem to be cheating for the other team. On one play, you witness a vicious personal foul that the referee seems to ignore, while staring right at the offending player. The other team moves down the field, scoring with ease amongst all of the punishment they are inflicting, while the refs continue to look the other way. By halftime, you are sitting in disgust, wondering how this can continue. Doesn't everyone see what's happening. Although your team has been able to stop the opponent on several occasions, they have not been able to put any points on the board.
In the second half, it's more of the same, but worse. In fact, the other team seems to be less focused on scoring and more intent on inflicting pain. When your team gets the ball, you see that after each play, someone is either being hit, kicked or punched by the opponent; all under the watchful supervision of the referees. After the other team scores again, your team fumbles on the next kickoff. Unbelieveable! The opponent kicks a fieldgoal, with 1 minute remaining in the 3rd quarter.
As the 4th quarter begins, you see your star quarterback crushed by a late hit from two of the defending players. As he is carried off the field, you wonder why this game has not been called off altogether. Its not fair! Its wrong!
Most of the players from your team are starting to look exhausted. There's only 4 minutes left as the other team kicks their next field goal. The camera pans the bench of your team. It looks more like a hospital ward than a football sideline. People are being bandaged, wrapped and re-taped.
The other team kicks off and your beleagered offense moves onto the field. They throw a great pass, but it's called back due to offensive pass interference; an obviously bad call. They run for a first down, but the line is called for holding (another incorrect call, that the replay confirms). As your running back again makes a first down, the ball is stripped after he is clearly on the ground and the other team takes over with only 1:45 seconds left to go in the game.
You pause the remote......
Can you feel it? Is the anxiety there? Is there a bit of hopelessness or despair? Is there doubt?
If this were you, would you start to doubt that your team wins in the end? Would you think maybe you hadn't heard the annoucer correctly? Maybe it was the score for another game. And, does knowing that your team will win remove the anger and disappointment with the refs, the other team and the pain, frustration and exhaustion that your players are feeling?
These are questions that have a few parallels in everyday life?
- Am I deceived to believe God really cares?
- Is God actively involved in my life or am I on my own?
- Is there justice or will evil somehow triumph?
- Should I keep working harder or throw in the towel?
- Is my marraige worth saving or is it just too hard?
- Can I be forgiven for my sins or is it too late for me?
First of all, I want you to read these questions again and realize, "It isn't all about you!" but really it's "All about Him!".
Although the death of Jesus on the cross was truly about us and our sin; it was not so that we'd be selfish and make this life all about us. It was so that we would remember what He was willing to do for us and make our life all about Him.
What in your life is too hard? Is there anything that's big enough that your God can't handle it? Is there anything He can't fix?
Seriously..........think about it.
Matthew 19:26 ...."With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."
How Big Is Your God
