A Closer Walk
A hearty thank you to my granddaughter Emily for filling in for me while I took a break from writing “A Closer Walk.” Thank you Emily!
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Adversity. Since football season is about to begin let's look at examples of adversity from the Kansas City Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes, starting quarterback for the Chiefs, did NOT win the Heisman Trophy. Andy Reid, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and former head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, was let go by the Philadelphia Eagles after taking them to the Super Bowl and losing. The same Philadelphia Eagles that the Chiefs beat in the last Super Bowl Championship Game. Patrick Mahomes was the 10th player taken in the 2017 NFL draft. Meaning that nine players were drafted before Patrick. Travis Kelcee, the starting tight end for the Chiefs was kicked off the football team at the University of Cincinatti. These two players, Mahomes and Kelcee, and Coach Reid are considered in football circles as the best, or among the best, to ever do what they do. And yet, others did not see their value or their potential.
But did they let that stop them or hold them back? No. They picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and pushed forward in order to find their way through the adversity. There is an example here for us. Sometimes things do not work out as we had planned or hoped. Agreed? So what should we do when that happens? Follow the example of Andy, Patrick, and Travis, and seek our God. “I Waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear, And will trust in the LORD,” Psalm 40:1-3 NASB.
Adversity sometimes brings waiting. “I waited patiently for the Lord. ...” This Psalm opens with the declaration that the Psalmist waited patiently for the Lord. Our Heavenly Father has an eternal timetable. We, on the other hand, have a temporal, earthly timetable. Which tells us that God's timing is different than our own. Living in a drive-through world we may loose patience with things that take longer than we think they should. Being sidelined for a time can be hard for us to accept. In these cases it is good to remind ourselves that no matter how circumstances may look to us our God does in fact have a plan for us. And the adversity is part of that plan.
Adversity sometimes brings waiting. The Old Testament prophet Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a fish. Jesus spent three days and nights in a grave before His resurrection. The Apostle Paul spent years at various times in prisons over over the course of his ministry. During one of these imprisonments he wrote the Bible books Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Talk about taking advantage of the situation! And these books are included in our Bibles today for our help, encouragement, and guidance. So Jonah was spit out onto the shore by the fish; Jesus arose from the grave on the third day; and Paul was eventually released from this imprisonment. But during the waiting, our God was molding and shaping them into the vessel He desired them to be.
Adversity sometimes brings waiting. When we are going through adversity we may need to do things we might prefer not to do. See a doctor; look for a job; take time off from our regularly scheduled life. In this also our God has a plan. And He is teaching us something. A closed door can help us to find the correct path. Even though we may not understand why we are going through what we are going through, our Lord knows. And He has a purpose for the adversity.
Before each game, while they are still in the tunnel and just before the Chiefs come onto the field, Patrick gives them a one or two minute pep talk. He tells his teammates things he desires them to hear. Two of my favorites: “Embrace this moment!” and “When the ball comes your way, do something great!” We rarely have do-overs in life. So we should embrace the moments of adversity and try to turn them into our time to shine. When the ball comes our way, so to speak, we should try to do something great! How do we do that? Don't know. Ask our Heavenly Father. He likely has an answer.
Later in Psalm 40 the Psalmist wrote, “Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, And Thy thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with Thee; If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count,” Psalm 40:5 NASB.