Underdogs!

Thursday evening was a cool moment in time for me. I'd just gotten out of my brother-in-law's memorial service and headed over to Circle Of Friends. I had been pondering all week as to whether or not I should leave the service and head over to church for our COF group. Everytime I thought and prayed about it I got the same answer, "Rick would go." So after the church service for Rick's family and friends I made my way to COF wondering how the evening would turn out. I usually have a plan or an inkling but, my plans don't usually inkle the way I thought they would. God show's up, and I'm good with that.

The devotion was all about...let me use the correct "christianese" here, "overcomers." I really don't care for any"-ese". People tend to over-use certain words, so we used "Underdogs" instead. Isn't that what we really are?

Let's see...we're all messed up on different levels, physically, mentally, and/or emotionally, and we need Someone to help us make it through our existence (most...if not all of the time), because no matter how much we'd like to admit it, we can't control everything (although we try). Because of sin, we are not built to succeed anymore, but with faith in Jesus, and God on our side through the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can do anything that is in His will in our lives. That sounds a bit like an underdog to me.

What fascinates me is how some folks don't get how this works. We can't succeed in life on our own, we need help to do the right thing because many times it is just not in us. Like cheerleaders for a sports team, God cheers us on and gives us the Holy Spirit, sort of like team spirit in our lives. It's "team spirit" inside of God's players that gives them the ability to get up everyday and function somehow when they're physically unable to get out of bed, or in pain. It's "team spirit" that guides someone to do the right thing in life because they heard how it looks when the bible was read to them as a child, yet they didn't (and don't) have the capacity to read it on their own now. It's also the gift of God's Spirit that gives many the emotional power to resist the temptation to yell and scream at someone when they were cut-off, or when their order was put together wrong, again. Believers in Jesus do nothing well without God cheering us on.

Thursday, I had the honor of speaking with 340 or so of my friends about how no matter what they're handling in their lives God has given them the Spirit to be overcoming "Underdogs!" (If you don't remember, our ministry is for folks with disabilities.) What a great promise from God, and who better to tell than our friends that those who believe in Jesus overcome the world! Why...do you say? Because God's word says that the Spirit in us (believers) is greater than the one in the world (1 John 4:4). Believers in Jesus Christ know that God has never broken a promise, and he never lies. Experiencing this verse in my life on many occasions I began choking up a bit during the devotion.

I mentioned in the notes before this that it had been a difficult week for me. The fact that God chose to have a devotion on being an underdog at this time not only spoke to my 340-plus friends, but it deeply spoke to me. Now I know why I was told all week that "Rick would go." As he has now gone and found complete and perfect comfort in God the Father's presence, I was able to find enough to help me overcome as my friends and I search for presents in His Word. God showed up, and I'm very cool with that!