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Winning isn’t everything…granted it is awesome, no one will ever deny the powerful emotions that come with victory. But it is just one moment in time, one that is a simple reflection of everything that came before it and sets a course for greater victories to come. What made Thursday night’s State Football Championship win so sweet, isn’t just that it has been a long time in coming, but that it is also a reflection of what winning well looks like. It is a reflection of the countless hours and dedication of professionals, volunteers and support from the community to build a worthy program, instill a sense of dedication, hard work, and commitment to the sense of team. The deep Chieftain pride we feel doesn’t happen overnight and certainly doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I think we all know that. I think it is what makes our team and community…
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The Lord replied, “Look around at the nations; look and be amazed! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it. Habakkuk 1:5
A friend tells the story of his encounter with a bear one fall day. He’d gone to his hunting land and walked the quarter mile trail into the forest. He climbed his stand and sat quietly waiting and watching for a deer. He made mental notes of which shooting lanes should be trimmed.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rustling leaves. At first he thought it was a deer, but quickly decided the sound was too loud for a deer. It sounded more like human feet and this angered him. The land was clearly marked as private property and with NO TRESPASSING signs. It was approaching dusk, so he decided it was a good time to climb down, confront the intruder and head home.
He stood up and saw a dark form approaching his tree. This was the noise maker. This was the ‘intruder’. However, he immediately decided confrontation would not be wise since the trespasser was a black bear that he estimated to be 500 pounds! He hollered at the bear hoping to scare if off but the opposite happened. The bear got closer to the tree and once at the bottom decided to climb up and investigate this noise-maker!
Needless to say, my friend was terrified as the huge bear began to climb the tree effortlessly. His screaming grew more intense and he began to jump on the floor of his stand hoping to make as much noise as possible. Whether it was the noise, disinterest of the prayers being offered up in fear we’ll never know. But just below the stand the bear decided he’d had enough. He lowered himself down the tree and wandered into the woods.
My friend made record time getting down the tree and back to his car!
There are times in each of our lives when we may feel trapped by our circumstances. Like my friend we come face to face with things in our lives we aren’t prepared for and seem way beyond our ability to conquer. It’s during those times we need to remember who we serve.
The prophet Habakkuk served Israel during a time of national despair. The enemy surrounded them and they were without hope. It was during this dark hour that God spoke to him, as he does today. “Don’t be afraid! Wait to see what I have in store! Your enemy will be completely subdued by my power” (my paraphrase, obviously).
The military has a doctrine they refer to as shock and awe. Simply put, Shock and Awe is defined as “the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force to paralyze the enemy’s perception of the battlefield and destroy its will to fight.”
Whatever enemy is attacking you; whatever fear is rising up within you, remember this. We serve a God who will one day conquer our enemies. They will be so overwhelmed by what they see that their will to fight will be destroyed and they will bow their knee in submission.
Don’t fear the one who can take your life. Align yourself with the one who determines the destiny of your soul.
PRAYER: Father God, creator of heaven and earth. There are those who threaten to destroy us. There are those who seek to weaken our resolve to rely on you. Help us, through the power of your Spirit to rest in the fact that one day you will reign over evil. Until then, keep our minds stayed on you and our hearts at peace. Amen.
“And if you follow me and obey my decrees and my commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.” 1 Kings 3:14
“Why can’t you be more like…”
Remember how much you hated hearing that? Maybe it was comparing you to a sibling, a relative or the class valedictorian. It’s fun to compare ourselves to others when we have better gifts and skills. It’s not so much fun to be compared to someone who obviously has their life together better than you do. What would it be like to be compared to someone who lived a life that was below your standards? How would it feel to not only be compared to them, but encouraged to be like them!
That was the situation Solomon found himself in. His father, King David had just died and the kingdom was now securely in Solomon’s hands. God came to him and offered him whatever he wanted and Solomon wisely chose wisdom.
Then, God says to Solomon, (look out, here comes a personal paraphrase), “Ok Solomon, here’s the deal. I want to bless you more than you can imagine because I love you and you love me. So, what I want you to do is to follow the example of your father, David. He was a man after my own heart who followed all my rules.”
I have to wonder if Solomon didn’t take a momentary double-take on that.
“Wait! Like my father David? Most Holy God, do you remember how his affair with mom and how he killed her first husband? Do you remember when his daughter was raped by his son and he did nothing about it? Do you remember how he constantly did his own thing and had to come to you time and again, repent and ask you to forgive him? Wait. That’s it isn’t it God. Dad made plenty of mistakes but he always came back to you. I get it now.”
Maybe it didn’t happen that way for Solomon, but it certainly does for me. If you feel like a failure. If you wonder if you’ll ever get it right? Remember there are many examples in the Bible of men and women who failed miserably and yet, they were used mightily by God.
PRAYER: Lord, I’m constantly reminded by others and my own conscience of my failures. I’m weak, stubborn, rebellious and selfish at times. Yet, even then, I love you. Thank you for always waiting with open arms to welcome me home. Amen.
Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Ecclesiastes 7:11
Small town logic is brutal but often true. This was made evident to me 
during a conversation I had at a local coffee shop. Our discussion turned to a local tragedy. A young adult had been killed in a single-car rollover. Reports were that the victim was under the influence at the time of the accident that claimed his life.
One of the men sitting at the table asked the name of the deceased. When he was told who it was, he shook his head and responded something like this, “Yeah, it’s a tragedy, but you know, his father was a drunk.”
His statement bothered me at first. It didn’t seem fair to minimize the accident by pointing to something that happened to someone else in the past. The more I thought about that conversation, the more I realized that while my feelings of injustice were true, the reality was, the reaction of the older gentleman at our table also carried truth to it.
Like it or not we are, in a sense, victims of our past. We’ve learned certain habits, thoughts and tendencies from our parents or others that went before us. We really have two choices in life. We can learn from those who have gone before us, or we can fall victim to the negative things we’ve gleaned from them.
There is a lot of truth to the old adage, “Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”
King Solomon said it a different way. “Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun.” We all hope to leave our children a big inheritance. We want them to be better off than we were. But the reality is, leaving them an example of Godly wisdom will be of a bigger benefit in the end.
Don’t just spend your entire life striving to provide your children with an inheritance that can be easily squandered. The wisdom you leave them will be of far greater value than any material possession you have.
Here are some questions to ask yourself to determine the kind of inheritance you are preparing for those who go behind you:
- What do you worry most about? Spiritual growth or physical/financial health?
- Where do you spend your time? The golf course or your knees in prayer for your kids and grandkids?
- Will those who come behind you remember you for being an encourager or a judge?
- Do you talk about the weather and sports more than you do topics of faith and grace?
- Does your Bible suffer from dust or worn pages?
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, help us to strive daily to leave an inheritance of wisdom that others will be able to use to guide them through life. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 