Playoffs and Pushing God Away

You've worked for so, so long to get to this point. You put in more practice than your opponents, worked harder, and wanted it more. All those days of twice daily practices and the special diets have paid off; you've made the playoffs. All you have to do is finish this up with your full, undivided effort, and then everything will be great. You'll have so much time to focus on God and you'll be able to get to everything you've been intending to the whole season. You'll finally read that book your parents gave you, catch up on the study you claim to have done already, and you'll pray more often for problems. If I just finish up this little thing here, then I'll give God all the attention he wants.

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit" -- yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance, All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. -- James 4:13-17

It's a weird dichotomy when we feel like God has propelled us into a certain situation, but we feel like we need to put him aside to accomplish the goals we've given us. We may feel God has called us to sport, work, or any other activity, but right now it's just too stressful and tough to pray, read the word, or commune with believers. It's fine; I'll just put it off for a little bit, get the work done, and then I'll have plenty of time to focus on God again. What sort of standard does this set for our future?

1. We're falling into a habit of the world now, God later. Everyone has their own personal way of communing with God. Some pray constantly, some fast for wisdom, some study the word for revelations, etc. That doesn't mean that when push comes to shove, it's OK to put God off for a bit. Our love for God should be so powerful that it shouldn't even be a choice, and every time we make that choice against God, we're letting sin take hold.
2. We're pushing God out of our world. In Acts, God says that his people did everything together in the Lord. God gave Adam work to do in order to glorify God. We should be confident that God has given us the work in front of us and we don't need to push him out. God doesn't just want the private time when we can afford it; he wants our lunch breaks, our 3:00 meeting, our family dinners, and our 4th quarters. Don't push God away; allow him to take the reins in the hard times and let him show you and everyone else his plan and power.
3. We're trying to accomplish goals in order to earn time with God. Deep down we feel like we have to get this work done so that we can be guilt and conscious free when we come to God. God does not call the proud, the accomplished, and the strong. God wants you to come to him weak, humble, and empty so that he can fill you with himself. He wants to take care of the hard times, not just the easy ones.

When you get to the playoffs of life, don't push God out. Don't just wait for tomorrow for God; you don't know what's going to happen today. Let God rule today and let him worry about what will happen tomorrow too.

Loving the Anonymous Referee

We've all had it happen to us--as coaches, fans, or as players. We've had a call go against us. Maybe we were one out away from a perfect game when the first base umpire botched the call, or maybe a player threw up a hand to stop a surefire goal and it wasn't called, or maybe our son was ejected from the game after just a dirty look. Its easy in these situations to blow up; to vent our frustration and tell the official just how wrong they are. After all, they wronged us, and as the victim we're entitled to a little lip, right? While the world at large may agree with this and push us to hold this attitude, we have to remember that we don't live by what the world tells us.

"With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be." -- James 3:9-10

As is a recurring theme in this blog, I'd like to stress the importance of living every aspect of our life for God. When we go to the ballpark, we're not just fans of a sport; we're still living examples of the love of God. We need to remember that the men and women officiating a game are just as much God's children as we are, and we're just as much a sinner as they are. It may be culturally encouraged to get passionate about sports, and vicariously make enemies of the officials, but God calls us to reject such a culture's mindset. Despite the fact that its fun to bark at referees and boo, if only to be part of the community around you, that's no reason to live a second life on the field then you do in the rest of life. Sometimes as citizens of the world we're looking for an excuse to get mad at something, so we look for ways we've been wronged and speak out. This is the wrong way to deal with our anger.

"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." -- Ephesians 4:31-32

God teaches us that if we are to model our lives after Jesus, then we must be ready to forgive trespasses against us. Do not allow yourself to drift back into anger by lashing out at the seemingly anonymous person behind the whistle. While passion is a fine thing to have, we need to let God direct our passion towards his goals instead of letting it run free like a wildfire. Speaking from experience, I know that I am often not able to tame my tongue when I do it by myself. At my core I am a bitter, selfish, proud man who thoughtlessly mocks those around me. In my case, I pray that the Lord helps me tame my tongue and instead gives me ways to practice using my tongue for the building up of others. I imagine I'm not alone in my struggles against this sin, and I've found that letting bitterness during sports have any place in my mind only allows the poison to spread.

So friends, don't take the easy way out. Even outside of sports, don't slander and mock public figures simply because they seem anonymous and outside earshot. Every thought we give to that mindset; every space in our heart we're allowing it to rent is another place in our life we're barricading God from entering. Let's humble ourselves and allow God full entrance into our lives instead of just the parts where it's convenient.