If You Can't Control Your Situation, Control Your Reaction

"It's critical that when you are heading the soccer ball, you strike the ball; don't let the ball hit you."  This is what my high school soccer coach told us.  Most of soccer is played with the feet, but when the opportunity arises and a header is called for, hit it the right way.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alohaxtreme2/1024471715/

The Biblical character, Esther, was in a tough position.  She was not supposed to approach the king without being summoned, but if she did not approach the king many of her Jewish countrymen would be murdered.  Her uncle knew that God was bigger than one person and the fate of the world does not rest on her, but why not let God use her in this unique situation?

Esther 4:14
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” 

It is similar to striking the soccer ball - that she would be much more effective if she attacked the situation with God working through her rather than just letting the situation come upon her.  She could not change what others wanted to do, but she could control her reaction.

The writer of the book of Hebrews picks up this idea by encouraging his readers and listeners to attack their situations and live on purpose.  The world does not need more people who just react to what is given to them - God wants to use people who will run the race marked out for them.

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

These words follow Hebrews 11 which is known as the great faith chapter - the definition and word are used in powerful ways to show how God has worked through his people and how he continues to work through them, people who see that God is active in their lives.  They lived by faith, therefore fix your eyes on Jesus, get rid of sin, and run.

You are not in your present situation by accident.  Wherever you are, God is working through your circumstances.  You are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, so live for Jesus.  God can work through other people, too, but maybe you are where you are for such a time as this.

Restoring the Image

Genesis 1:27
So God created mankind in his own image, 
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them. 

The creation story tells us that people were created in God's image, but it does not explain exactly what that means.  Some would say that it is related to how we look; it is true that Jesus took on human form so there might be some connection.  Others see a quality of God as the image; God is holy, loving, good, righteous, etc.  Another interesting idea is that people are the only ones in creation which are creative.  One great response from class this past week was that God did this so that we would have a better relationship with him - we tend to have better relationships with people we have more in common with!

The unfortunate reality is that we did not stay in God's image, for now we are only a poor reflection of who God is.  Sin caused a separation from what God intended.  The first action of Adam and Eve after falling from perfection was to hide their nakedness and hide themselves.  They were not successful. God found them rather easily, and making clothes out of leaves is not a long term solution.

God cursed the snake, the woman, the man, and the entire earth.  God's perfect creation was no longer perfect, so it could no longer be the eternal paradise that it was created to be.  Instead, God had a plan to redeem the world, and it started with finding new clothes.

At the end of the fall in Genesis 3, we find out that God covered the man and woman with animal skins; God covered their nakedness, their shame, and their sin.  This was the first sacrifice, since it required the life of the animal.  We don't know what animal was sacrificed, but some believe it was a lamb.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/147591

Adam and Eve were covered in the lamb and given new hope.  We also have new hope as ones who have been covered in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14).  From the very beginning, God was pointing his people to Jesus - to his own Son who would cover sin once and for all.  Our life came at the price of another, as Paul describes:

Romans 5:20-21
20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Separation and Filling

It is easy to read a Bible passage and find something you missed before.  The creation account in Genesis chapter 1 is one of those stories that you know, yet are amazed when you find even more.

Creation happened in six days.  In the Bible, the number six tends to represent something that is incomplete (that is why there was one day of rest, making it a complete week).  The number three tends to represent God and the things of heaven, and it also finds its way into the creation story.

Day 1 - God separated darkness and light

Day 2 - God separated the skies and the seas

Day 3 - God separated the land and the water

There were three separations on the first three days.  You may be more familiar with the "Let there be..." phrase found in the creation story, but the separations are also a key.  His work is not just to separate, though; God hints and what the next three days will be like at the end of day three - he fills the land with vegetation and life.

Day 4 - God filled creation with lights

Day 5 - God filled the sky with birds and the sea with fish

Day 6 - God filled the land with animals

Now God moves into the work of filling.  Day one was about light, and now day four was about filling in the lights to carry out that work.  Day two was about the skies and seas, and now day five was about filling them with birds and fish.  Day four was about land, and now day six was about filling the land with wild and domesticated animals.  Yet again, God hints that there is something more than just animals he is creating.  Special emphasis is put on his creation of man and woman, signaling what is to come.

Separation and filling.  That is how fields are planted - separating the dirt and filling it with seed that grows.  That is how new muscle is formed - tearing muscle tissue and then letting the muscles rebuild in a stronger way.  That is how we can live a new life - separation from the sin that entangles us and filling with God's Holy Spirit.