The current economic recession is a gift! It's our time to shine, to make a difference in the lives of people around us. It's a Game Day for faith. Light is most dramatic and eye-popping when cast against a background of darkness and despair.
We are not called to be fans and spectators. We are called to be players. The recession crisis is a dramatic playing field for game day faith. I'm loving it. I'm pumped! How about you? This isn't a practice or a scrimmage; this is the time we quit talking and huddling. It's game day.
In spite of how things may look and feel, we are not alone in this, Believe it; we are never alone. We aren't just playing with his symbol on our jerseys, we play with his Spirit in our hearts. We play the game for him...in honor of HIS life, not ours.
Some of us have been on the couch so long, our faith is more talk than substance. The darkness has blinded eyes and invaded hearts.
I have a friend who is just about to give up. All he can see is failure and fear. Because his job search has come up empty and his prayers have seemed to come back marked "Return to Sender," he feels abandoned.
There are no magic words that can force a discouraged believer out of victimhood and hopelessness. There IS a hope option, however. It's right in front of us. God has placed his Hope smack-dab in the middle of the current crisis; His game plan is not found in denial or retreat or fantasy. It's found on the street where you live. It's your faith.
Can you see it? It's in the recession, in the job loss, in the hospital, in the total inventory of brokenness, failures, and challenges in your life. Thus far my friend is choosing to squirm in the mire of self-pity and nostalgia. He can talk about God's hope option, but he seems unwilling to leap, to trust it, to choose it.
What about you? Ready for action? Ready for God's game plan...his hope option?
Can you feel the excitement, the new season? No more excuses, no more complaining, or arguing, or blaming. No more armchair quarterbacking; no more analysis. It's time to play the game.
Get out of the huddle and get ready for God to call your number. It's time!
Remember the words from Hebrews 11, “It was by faith that…” you fill-in the name and the crisis. God is still using crisis times to put his people in the moment. It might begin…
By faith…Mel lost his job but that gave him free time to ask questions, the questions that could not be easily answered, the ones that encouraged a group of young men to listen carefully for the voice of God.
By faith…The accident put Ed in the hospital for a months, but those months opened his eyes to see the future in others before they could see it in themselves.
By faith…Sandy lived through her mother’s suicide and found her calling in encouraging and healing the brokenhearted.
By faith…Kathy reached out to a troubled imprisoned friend while “good church people” judged and shunned her for doing so.
By faith...Kent lost his savings and financial security, but found unexplainable joy in giving beyond his means. He chose to bless others, instead of worrying about how he was going to get by.
With faith, we see the future… we see what’s needed, what’s redemptive, what’s missing; we become agents of his mercy and grace and forgiveness and hope. So, are you in the game, or in the stands?
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