Psalm 124

1 What if the Lord had not been on our side? Let all Israel repeat:
2 What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us?
3 They would have swallowed us alive in their burning anger.
4 The waters would have engulfed us; a torrent would have overwhelmed us.
5 Yes, the raging waters of their fury would have overwhelmed our very lives.
6 Praise the Lord, who did not let their teeth tear us apart!
7 We escaped like a bird from a hunter’s trap. The trap is broken, and we are free!
8 Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Challenges are not metaphors for life....although life is a challenge.

It's an important distinction...and my coach was wrong.

Life is a contest and we've been raised to believe we make our own success in life. If we work hard, study hard, live honest lives, we will become a success. Why else do we have a valedictorian? A Superbowl champion? And...if we have not been fortunate enough to be either of those...the message is simple: try harder. We can determine the outcome of our lives by the sheer power of our will. As though it all means something...

What if life isn't that at all? What if life isn't "the survival of the fittest?" After all, Jesus said "what does it profit a person if he gains the world, but loses his soul?" What if life is more like our solar system? If the earth gets too close to the sun...we die. If the sun burns out...we die. What do you suppose we can do to influence any of it? You're right, we're just along for the ride...to eventual oblivion.

The one who dies with the most toys does not win...

In reality, our successful efforts in overcoming every challenge life offers is nothing more than something we do to occupy time while we are living...like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Will it actually make a difference? Life is not a football game. Life is not a career path. Life is not "a spouse, two children and an SUV." Life is the total sum of moments that God has given each of us to enjoy His creation and honor Him. And granted, it can be difficult.

In fact, life so difficult that we are powerless to affect the outcome. Sin has insideously crept into our lives and infected us with a fatal disease...before we were even born. We are born dead... spiritually. Without outside intervention we die alone...without God.

Now, listen to our Psalmist..."what if the Lord had not been on our side?"

I'm comforted to believe that our God holds the sun and it's planets in balance...because I cannot. I'm comforted to believe that my eternal welfare does not depend upon how successfully I navigated the daily snares. I'm comforted to believe that "if God is for me, nothing can be against me."

And the great proof God is "for" us? We'll see it in the manger this Christmas. When Jesus moves out of the manger...and into our lives...his presence innoculates us from the deadly effects of sin. Our eternal welfare is settled...if we never defeat a single enemy in our life.


Live boldly out there today...