The Ultimate Spectator Sport

No, I'm not really going to talk about sports. Sorry.

I was just thinking and praying about how the Lord lets us go through so many problems. "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" That's Psalm 34:19. And that's for the "righteous" - you can imagine how bad it must be for us sinners! Phew! Is it getting hot in here? Well, Okay, we are the "righteous" because we've received God's righteousness through Christ, through receiving His gift of salvation. So, yeah, the verse does apply to us. And, yeah, some of us do go through a lot of problems. Seriously I don't know why some seem to get more problems and afflictions than others, but I'm sure there's a special plan for each of us, specially tailored to work God's will in our lives.

Which brings us to the second part of that verse: "but the Lord delivers him out of them all." This is the exciting part. When afflictions and problems hit us we usually can only see the first part of the verse, especially the word "many" really hangs in there and bothers us. At least that's my usual reaction. But what we're supposed to be thinking about is the second part of the verse. And we're supposed to be thinking about three words in particular: "Lord", "delivers" and that very special word: "all".

The word "all" is so cool. Really think about it! That means everything, every single little thing, every major problem, every stinking difficulty, everything that afflicts you in some way. Of course, if you're like me, you're probably your own worst enemy, so, yeah, that can also mean delivering you from yourself. Ah... well... Sorry, I didn't mean to mess up the coolness of the word "all" - but, you know, it really would be nice to be delivered from our own sins. So, yeah, it's still cool! Actually, the more I think about it, that's even better!

However, I'm still missing something. I guess I'm missing the real point of that verse. It's the word "Lord" that really makes the difference. We can be delivered. We can be righteous. We can be saved and victorious. But for what? What is salvation anyway? It's being close to God! That's what it is. Not close to Him, like "Look at me! I'm standing next to God! I'm so great!" No, more like "Wow, God, You really do love me! In spite of myself! You're so cool!" That kind of closeness. That's salvation. That's heaven.

So when we get afflictions and problems we really should be looking to the Lord and getting closer to Him through them. Again, closer in love and thankfulness, not necessarily closer in goodness or our own righteousness. That won't really work.

That means that Christianity is like the most ultimate Spectator Sport ever!

We're supposed to be watching what God does in our lives! If we keep looking we will not be disappointed! King David said in Psalm 27, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." He expected to see the Lord do something! He expected Him to come through for him with whatever it took to deliver him, to see the "goodness" of God.

"What about all those Christians in the arena during the Roman persecutions?! It was the Romans who were the spectators! Not the Christians!" Hold on, I've got an answer for that... "And do you mean we are not supposed to do anything about our Christianity?! We're supposed to just sit around waiting and watching?!"

No! I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. Let me explain. During those persecutions, what was the greatest event that happened for each and everyone that suffered? Was it that they suffered? That's what the Romans were watching. Or was it that God came and took them and brought them to heaven with great rewards? That's what only the Christians saw! They saw the Glory of God! They were the real spectators in that arena. They were the only ones who really saw the winning goal!

But they did need to be in the arena to see it. So it's more like an Interactive Spectator Sport! Sort of like Gaming on your favorite console, only better.

The second part of the verse, "but the Lord delivers him out of them all" doesn't really have any significance without the first part, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous" - We need some battles, afflictions, challenges to be able to partake of this amazing spectator sport. Without them we'd miss the greatest show on earth (and in heaven).

Of course, it's more than just watching God do His work. It's being a part of His work, being close to Him, learning about Him, even becoming more like Him day by day. He's wants us to partake of this sport, not to show how great He is, but to show us how much He loves us. How great He thinks we are!

He also wants to share His kingdom with us. How can He do that? By letting us be a part of His work, by working through us in the lives of others, by being Him in this world. Being Him means letting His light and love flow through us. It's not that we become so great and mighty. If that were possible then people would be seeing us and not Him. It's actually a good thing we are such a mess. Then there's no confusion. Anything good we end up doing has to be God and not us.

So you got problems? Big problems? Be there. And watch.

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14

Impress Me!

You've seen it in the movies. The hero asks what they are supposed to do for some important critic, client or employer. "Impress me!" Most of the time it seems to me that the person saying "Impress me" is really not expecting to get too impressed. They think too highly of themselves and their abilities and sort of hope the hero will at least try to get close.

There are other times, though, that they really do want and expect the hero to truly impress them. When that happens, if I were the hero, then I'd really want to do my best. It would be a pleasure! I guess I really like to be impressive! ha! Maybe it's low self-esteem, maybe it's because I got positive feedback from my parents and teachers when I did something good.

Yeah, I really like to impress people, even though I'm not so good at it. I like to blame it on being human, but I might just be more human than others since I often offend people trying to impress them. They don't really want to be impressed by me. I think maybe they are thinking about how much they can impress me, instead. Or maybe they are actually just really that humble and nice and not impressed by my impression. Oh well.

Anyway, I've got boys. Some are getting a little old now and are actually men and not boys. But they are still and will always be my sons. They will always have my love and my desire to be loved by them. And I was thinking that they are actually the few people that I don't really want to impress that much. What I want is for them to know that they've impressed me!  Kind of strange for me, I know! But it's true. I really want them to enjoy that fulfillment and personal worth. I think contentment has those ingredients in a big measure.

Of course, they don't really have to impress me with anything. I'm already impressed by them, by them being themselves. They amaze me sometimes and I mean in a good way. They've amazed me in some not so good ways a few times, but that's just part of growing up. They're human, too. But they still impress me, so, actually, I'm not really looking for and hoping that they will do something outstanding and suddenly impress me with their greatness. What I'm really looking for is for them to know and realize that I'm already impressed. That their worthiness to me is already integrated into the love that I have for them. I want them to know that I think they are great!

So, I guess I just need to keep telling them that, right? I'm going to keep trying to remember to tell them as much as possible - without sounding too crazy, of course.

Then I got to thinking (can be dangerous at times). I got to thinking that maybe that's how God feels with us, His children. Maybe He's not really trying to test us to see if we'll stay faithful to Him and keep all the rules and whatever else He can think of so that we can get into Heaven. Maybe He is, but, maybe, just maybe, He's really trying to get across to us how much we already impress Him. How much He really loves us and enjoys us the way we are.

Of course, I know for my part, I've got a lot weaknesses and failings and have really messed things up a lot! Could He really still be impressed with me? Could His love really cover all my mistakes? Could He really be more interested in me growing into a fulfilled person, knowing that He loves me without condition?

That does sound like a Mighty Loving God to me! He really did go way out of His way to prove it! He came to earth as a small child, loved everyone and finally went to the cross for each and everyone of us! It doesn't seem that far-fetched that He would really just want us to love Him and to enjoy His love for us.

What about all my mistakes and the things I've messed up so much? Well, He can fix those things easily! He's God! I know if one of my boys breaks a glass while doing the dishes, I'm much more interested in his safety than in the broken glass. Makes sense. But even if my boys have a fight and hurt each other, I'm more interested in helping each to resolve the conflict and to learn from it than I am in punishing them or negating their worth to me. I mean I do get angry, but ultimately I'm interested in them growing and maturing from any situation.

So, maybe God really is more interested in letting us know that He's already impressed by us. It would definitely make it more of a pleasure to, in turn, please Him more.

And maybe He's not trying to impress us so much with His greatness. It would help explain why the world is such a mess. Why He doesn't just come in, fix everything, make everything right and really really impress us all!  I'd say there are a lot of people in this world who are not so impressed with God. Some are even angry at Him. And some refuse to believe in Him, because they just haven't been impressed by Him yet!

Maybe it really is all about us! Maybe God is much more interested in us and our world than in Himself and His greatness. He left the Halls of Heaven and all that to die for us! I think it should be pretty clear!!

When Jesus was first baptized by John the baptist, God said from the heavens, "My Son, in Whom I am well pleased!" Now, it's true that Jesus had been pretty great up to this point in His life, but really, it wasn't until after this that He did the greatest things. Healing so many people, doing miracles, teaching us about God's love for us and finally proving it by dying on the cross as payment for our sins. God, the father, points out that before even doing any of those greatest things that He was already impressed with His Son.

And when we get to Heaven we are all hoping to hear the Lord say, "Well done, faithful one. I'm impressed! Enter now into this joy of knowing that I love you!" Maybe we shouldn't wait! Maybe we should enter it now and take pleasure in pleasing Him more!

Maybe He's saying to you right now: "Impress Me!" but with a smile and a twinkle in His eye, you know that He has already been impressed and just wants you to know how much He loves you! Really loves you!

And how do we continue to impress Him? Well, just help everyone else to know how much God is impressed with them.  And then let them know how much you are impressed with them!

Impress me?  You already have!