…but don’t forget the big picture
December 29, 2009 (Tuesday)
The second professional football season (the playoffs) is shaping up again with some of the greatest games being played to win a playoff berth. Texas’ two teams, from Houston and Dallas, are playing better than ever. Dallas has made the playoffs and Houston’s still hoping. The Monday night game (Vikings and Bears) was exceptionally exciting. I was disappointed when the Colts sidelined their main players (a decision by their front office) and lost to the New York Jets. I would have really been disappointed if I had paid the high admission prices to get inside the stadium and had such high hopes of hopefully seeing my team have an undefeated season. Would the Jets have won anyway? We’ll never know. As they say, “bi’ness is bi’ness.”
The games divert our attention from something much more important: the botched and thwarted attempt by a terrorist organization to blow up an airliner loaded with innocent people bound for Detroit, on Christmas Day. The terrorist failed in his attempt, but it was a genuine effort to kill many people. When a passenger saw what was going on, he took action to avert the disaster. Make no mistake about it, this was another very serious fanatical attempt to kill people. There will be more. We just don’t know when or where.
Meanwhile, we who believe in God as powerful and sovereign continue to trust Him. We will never be without our giving of thanks and dependence upon the Lord. We will not allow our faith to be weakened by fear. We will ask the Lord to make our love stronger, because “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). We will experience that “joy unspeakable and full of glory” that the Scripture promises in 1 Peter 1:8. We will affirm that “God works in the lives of those who love Him, bringing about the fulfillment of His purpose of good in the world” (Romans 8:28). In our own way, as led by the Lord, we will live by faith, grateful for God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-10).