Lent Day 18: Thankful for God's will

"How can I know God's will? Is this the right thing to do?"

W and I are old people in the faith. We've served God since childhood and heard those two questions almost as often as we've asked them. "Should we choose this or that? What will happen in the future if I go this direction?"

I have two stories today about finding the will of God. The first is from my childhood. An old preacher told our youth group to get into motion if we wanted to know what God wanted. "Have you ever tried to turn the wheel of a car without power steering? It is very difficult when the car is sitting in the driveway but once you start moving you can easily turn the wheel.

"In the same way, God will direct you if you will work hard and do what is at hand. If you sit and wait around, you may not be ready for the job that comes along."

The second story illustrates the old man's admonition. This weekend, a high-schooler did the impossible. With a few seconds to go in the state championship basketball game, his basket wins the game and leads his team from heartbreak to victory and the prize. (Click here to view the astonishing moments = Watch #4.)

I've watched the footage of the final seconds of the game many times, tracking where this youngster comes from before he makes the play.

Coaches will be inspiring their teams with the clip in coming years. Rather than waiting to see what would happen, the player sprints from center court toward the basket. There is no play that would have specifically called for him, no strategy that requires his action.

Yet he runs at full tilt ... and when a split-second opportunity means a win or loss, he is THERE! The announcers can't believe what they've seen and they can't find him on the replays. All of a sudden, he's changed the whole game and his school's history. Doing what needs to be done, heroically on the spot! Winning because he is in motion and in the right place at the right time ... after years of rebounds and dribbling and layups and boring drills.

How many times would God ask us to do the impossible with his help, but we've not been nearby? How many opportunities have we missed to share the gospel, help the hurting, or get that perfect job? Are we willing to practice and train, to get up early to study scripture and devote ourselves to God, to do the mundane tasks in preparation for extraordinary moments?

Where do we fit into God's will? Realistically, some of us will never have that "glory moment" when everyone looks at us with stupefaction and wonder. We'll never be the star who shoots the winning basket. Instead, we may play on the team to let someone else shine. The young man could not have done his amazing tip-off without his team.

However, sometimes the star misses her chance and the underdog becomes the hero. For that to happen, someone has to be in motion, fearlessly becoming the one who saves the day! Let it be you. And let it be me, O Lord.

Read more:

*Don't worry about the wicked or envy those who do wrong. For like grass, they soon fade away. Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires. Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun." Psalm 37:1–6

*O Lord our God - we set our hope on you. Jeremiah 14:22

*We wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Titus 2:13

Moravian Prayer: Almighty God, we lift our hearts to you; and our eyes are fixed upon your unchanging glory. We rejoice in the promises of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power and majesty. Amen. (from Reign of Christ Liturgy, MBW p109)

Lent 10: Hopscotch

Hopscotch is the world’s favorite childhood playground game, according to a British study. Something about the coordination of tossing, jumping and landing appeals to children. It can be played alone or with others, on six to eleven squares. A stone is tossed. The player jumps to avoid the square with the marker. Variations of hopscotch are played in many cultures.

Some of us never outgrow the childhood need for such competition and control. We enjoy movement, the feeling of progress from place to place. We know what squares are in play, but don’t stay put for long. We chart out the course, toss a pebble, and hop from place to place. All within safe boundaries, of course.

Although the motion makes it look like we’re going somewhere, we turn to come back to the starting line before playing again. And again. We become champions at avoiding a marker or bouncing around inside the lines. And our friends cheer from the sidelines, rooting for us, shouting, “Don’t let us down!”

I wonder how Jesus’ friends felt when he left the safety of the game. What they said when he walked outside the boundaries of what they knew and expected. They stopped cheering and sharply criticized when he drew a bigger life, surprised by his skill and audacity.

During Lent, we celebrate the uniqueness of God living among us. Loving us without being limited by our little games and expectations. Jesus said he had come to give us life… and that more abundantly. Let’s push our self-limitations and amusements aside during this Lenten season to see how bountiful life can be with him as our friend and guide.

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God's peace to you today!

"At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, 'Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the LORD your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don't you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and charioteers? At that time you relied on the LORD, and he handed them over to you.

The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war.' … In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Yet even with the severity of his disease, he did not seek the LORD's help but turned only to his physicians. So he died in the forty-first year of his reign." 2 Chronicles 16:7–9, 12–13 NLT

*[Jesus] "But I tell you who hear Me; Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. But love your enemies, do good to them and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be the sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." Luke 6:27, 28, 35, 36 NIV

*[Paul] "And now I am bound by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don't know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead. But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God. And now I know that none of you to whom I have preached the Kingdom will ever see me again." Acts 20:22–25 NLT

*For "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it." 1 Peter 3:10-11 NLT