Granted, I was like 5, and could barely skate at the time. But sure enough, I fell over and slid into a solid goal post supporting the hockey net. And you could totally hear me yelling all the way in the stands. That wasn't exactly the prettiest start to my career in hockey.
Looking back can be a lot of fun. But there's always things (like this video) that you'd rather forget.
But maybe it's not just home videos. Maybe it's looking back through old messages you've exchanged with others; then suddenly it hits you. How stupid and selfish you were. How you totally messed up on things and should have handled them better. How you should have shown patience and understanding instead of rashness and jealousy.
I kinda laugh, wishing that previous paragraph was all written in the hypothetical.
But here's the thing I was reminded of tonight: we can't be the people we should be without a Savior. I can't be the man I want to be without a Messiah. They say the first step in fixing a problem is realizing you have one. I think we can all admit that we fall short; I certainly have seen a lot of specifics that I've fallen short in, just from looking at a few past messages (okay, so this hasn't been hypothetical--but you knew that).
So where do we go from here?
It has to be a radical war. It has to be a spiritual war. As seen from my last post, there is a monster in ourselves that wants to win. And that cannot and will not happen. One practical thing to do is to write down some of the areas you know you fail in (not all...there's no piece of paper big enough for that) and pray about them...hard. Pray about them every day...strongly. Take them before the God that can control all things. Radically.
That's what I'm doing. I wrote down six or seven things I tend towards that I know have been difficult for others and that need to be changed (anger, selfishness, jealousy--you name it). I'm going to pray about them every day for the rest of the month...and beyond.
If God can turn the hearts of kings in his hand like rivers of water (that's pretty awesome--it's in Proverbs, check it out), then He can absolutely help me battle my own sin and failures. He can change my heart.
As a side note, my career in hockey blossomed after this point. My team won a district championship when I was 11, and we went as far as the Michigan state semi-finals. I would also go on to lead the league in scoring at age 13 (however...those were about the only things I won in 14 years of hockey...so I treasure them).
A rocky start does not mean it has to stay that way.
There's power in the Blood.
I read this by Puritan Timothy Rogers. I think it is a good reminder:
ReplyDelete"Our best way, therefore, is not to sit still, bewailing our miseries and the sadness of our case, but to arise and to run to the city of refuge that is before us. When we are wounded with the sense of sin with weeping eyes and grieved hearts, we must look up to Christ, of whom the brazen serpent was a type; when the burden of our iniquities sinks us down and makes us groan, we must go to him in whom the weary & the heavy laden find rest. We must go to the gospel, which as it reveals and manifests the abundance of sin in us, at the same time manifests the righteousness that is in Christ"
That is an excellent and eloquent reminder. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man also be lifted up." We must look and be saved.
ReplyDelete