STRIPES EVERYWHERE
Here comes the judge! At what point in your life do you not have referees messing with your perfect game? Certainly not in childhood - you’ve got your parents refereeing your days, coaching, teaching being in control and some are controlling. Not in school, not at work, not lost in a crowd, not even in your own private castle. Someone somewhere is wearing that irksome striped shirt. Rules to follow, directions to take, choices to make. Stripes everywhere! Yet things may not always be as they seem.
This is not actually a Zebra.
It’s an Okapi,
brown with stripes
only on the legs and derriere.
Photo by SANDRINE
Doesn’t trouble stop you from going the direction you are headed? If you really take the time to contemplate that stop – it’s not always a bad thing. Doesn’t a referee also stop you from going the direction you are headed? Sometimes we are so focused on our goal that we don’t realize how we impinge on others to get there. We don’t often plan our stops. Look at Jonah – I’m sure that little layover in a whales belly wasn’t his plan. He was intensely focused on his own goal not God’s goal for him. He needed a stop to protect him from himself. We need the referees in our lives. We need the stripes. It’s not always bad to be stopped. What about when the referees in our lives are unfair, horrible, complete idiots, or outrageously wrong? God’s Word tells us that we will have Stripes (trouble) in this world but to take heart for He has overcome the world. (John 16:33) I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. (Psalm 73:23)
A pearl to string: Life just isn’t fair – it can be downright mean and ugly - you have to get over that fact and move on. There will be times of frustration with your kids that you want to throw a hissy fit but you have to remind yourself – I’m the adult …help me Lord. There will be times when your best does not accomplish your goal and you have to remind yourself God is in control. There will be times when you come face to face with absolute wrong. The question we need to ask ourselves is how can I be God’s man/woman in this situation? Allow the stops in your life to invoke prayer and know prayer invites the hand of God into your situation.
Ever holding onto God’s right hand,
Lyndi
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