Snatching Victory

Have you felt like you are experiencing life in a mirror?  Not the narcissistic gotta-see-myself kind of pathology – and not the Harry Potter Mirror Of Erised type of reflection where you see an image of your deepest desires having been met. 

There is another sort of mirrored-irony in life where what we want and what we get is often the very opposite of the image we desire.  One of the characteristics of a mirrored reflection is that of the opposite - the reversal of the object being represented.  Just hold up any word to a mirror and it will be turned around backwards. 

 

Such is the case with the well-known and often-used cliché, “Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.”  “To snatch victory from the jaws of defeat” means to suddenly win a contest when it appears that a loss is a forgone conclusion, to succeed in an endeavor through reversal of fortune, skill, effort, of good judgement..

 

Unfortunately, however, in our lives we often experience the mirrored opposite side of this phrase, or, “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” -- also a well known and used cliché.  I think all of us as some point in our lives feel like what we want, and what we get somehow gets turned around leaving us to feel a bit like life is playing some cruel trick on us.

 

Is your life more a “Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat,” kind of experience or, like its mirrored reversal “Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory?”  One is freeing, while the later is confining - like being helplessly crushed upon or trapped with no one to extricate you into a victory life. 



On the night of November 19, 2011, we received the kind of phone call no one wants to receive.  The state trooper on the other end told us our 17-year-old daughter, Rachel, had been in a serious car accident and was being airlifted to the hospital.  

 

 

 

What they didn’t tell us was that she was literally “Snatched from the jaws of defeat.”  Before she could be flown the hospital for the emergency treatment, there was the matter of extricating her from the tangled remnants of her car which had been crushed in-around her.  And, the mechanism that was used by the rescue team to snatch the victory was called “The Jaws Of Life.”

 

Rachel was rescued, but she had nothing to do with it.  She could not be smart enough, faithful enough, good enough – she was asleep in a coma.  All she could do was be rescued.

 

Have you ever felt helpless? Maybe a time when you were faced with some difficult real-life issues? Sometime we find ourselves in a personal situation where life seems to be crushing-in around us and there seems to be no way out – at least by our own power or abilities. 

 

There are certain times where all we can do is be rescued.  There is one who can always snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

 

 

This Sunday in worship you can hear all about him. His name is Jesus, and He is “The Jaws Of Life.”

 

 

 

 

  

 

Viral God

Did you hear about the new reality drama being cast?  It features two very competitive sisters – one strikingly beautiful and the other a bit homely.  In the reality series, they are fighting for the affections of the only available potential husband in the area.  

 

Add to that mix an exploitative father-in-law looking for cheap labor with benefits, and stir in some behind the scenes “catfish type” shenanigans and you have an instant hit. 

 

 

The clips from this reality show will probably go viral immediately.  But how long will the series last?  One season, two, maybe five?  It actually lasted 14 seasons, but in one sense it lasts forever. (You can read more it in Genesis 29:15-28)!

 

We live in a video-clip, sound-bite age.   What is all the rage in one moment becomes old news in a 24-hour news cycle.  

 

 

This cultural conditioning seems to excite the desire of humanity everywhere for instant satiation of well - whatever.  We demand quick solutions, instant pain relief, and instant gratification.  I suppose you might say we long for a god of miracles gone viral!

 

  

Electronic posts can go around the world in seconds.  So, what happens to us when God doesn’t act in a like fashion?  When it seems like God isn’t posting fast enough – doesn’t go viral in our lives?

 

 

  

I think we all have a universally-held desire for God
(or for some, a higher power) to act on our behalf
without delay.  We need to know that pain, loss,
suffering, trauma, loneliness and the like won’t last
too long.  We want god-medicines that quickly take
away the pain.


So, how long should we give God to act? In today’s social-media viral-video age, everything happens instantaneously with just a click.


I think today, in a designer-god age, would we want him more like the proverbial tortoise who is painfully slow, or like the hare who speeds lightening fast toward the finish line of our dilemma in record time. We all know the answer to this one!
 

 Given our choice, we would want God to look and race more like the hare.  In today’s world, a tortoise-style God just moves too slow for us, our problems, not to mention the world’s problems. 

Our memories are short and our expectations for service or “need response” is immediate.  Like the viral video of last week, the rage of the moment, is quickly left behind and forgotten.   I think this “new reality” leads us to doubt God, His presence and His ability to reach us personally.  Let’s just say it, God’s promises don’t exactly seem to go viral! 
 

But that’s the point! God keeps His promises to you, but not with a social-media timeline!  If we are looking for God to go viral in a social-media-second, we misunderstand the power and duration of His Word and His promises.  Even the old trickster Jacob figured it out -- and waited it out!  In the message this Sunday, you will see and hear what a guy who lived 3,000 years ago knew even before electricity -- God's promises doesn’t go viral, they go forever!

God Fits Us

Have you ever felt like a round peg trying to fit in a square hole?  As far back as I can remember, I have definitely felt this way.  It’s a bit disconcerting because deep down, I think everyone has a desire to fit it – you know, find our place in the world where we do belong. 

 

 

It’s like we are Cinderellas waiting for the prince to offer us to try on the glass slipper.  And, when “it” happens, the two matching shapes will fit and everything will be happily ever after!

 

 

More often, we are just in the long line of those who try hard to squeeze their foot into the unique shape so we can receive the reward.  Unfortunately, just like the movie, it only fits “the one,” so we feel rejected!  And, to make matters worse, in often looks as if many around us give the outward appearance that they do fit in.  This only has the effect of making us feel even more isolated, weird or somehow defective as a human beings.  Resonating yet?

 

Then comes the squeeze – trying for press ourselves into someone else’s mold or shape.  Usually, this means getting a hammer and just banging and beating on ourselves to make a forced-fit.  And, if we still don’t fit, we just get a bigger hammer!  Hence the phrase “beat up by life.”

 

What was God thinking when he made us?  Well, actually he was creating a perfect fit.  Did you know our brains were designed to operate by making perfect fits?  Neurons fire exact shapes that find their place in an exact receptor.  All other shapes are rejected to ensure the perfect fit and function -- we think, act, live, and love! 

 

 

In other words, God made our brains work on the principle of round pegs round holes, squares peg, square holes – a perfect fit.  It’s built into us.  We seek to fit in, to find the perfectly shaped receptor, and we are relentlessly driven to find this match – the place where we belong.

 

This Sunday we will explore God’s perfect design and discover where we actually belong – the place where our shape thrives.  Here is a hint – God fits us!