October 26, 2015 - God's All In!

The past week has had a recurring theme in my head/heart concerning the heart of God. To be honest the thought was born out of counseling as I searched for words of comfort for someone that was facing a tragedy…

What it has done is caused me (with my twisted sports mind) to draw reference to some things from my athletic past. As I go back to my playing days I tried thinking about specific games and what my mind went to was specific relationships. If asked about my favorite coach I think of Lanny DeWitt during my sophomore year; yet I can’t really recall many games. What I do recall was how much he loved us. I remember clearly his laughter when we were laughing. I remember him grimacing as he ran lines with us in the parking lot of our school. There were a lot of them but he was “all in” with us…

As a coach I think of the amazing times when we accomplished great things or got big wins; yet I can’t necessarily envision the actual games but can envision the celebrations. I even go back to our NACA national championship and remember very little from the actual game play… but clearly remember Adam Raye throwing his arms around me in a hug…

As a dad I think of the days when my oldest son Clay was playing. Even when trying to reminisce about his playing days I don’t envision a lot of the games but as clearly as things that happened today I can picture his joy when there were great accomplishments and his suffering and pain during injuries... I can still taste the tears, his and mine!

Basically I just remember more the relational times when it was clear the coach (dad) was all in!

Now back to the counseling session. I felt compelled to tell the one I was trying to comfort that not only was it ok to cry but that God was crying too! We have a clear example of how Jesus (God in the flesh) responded when He was with sad people. In John 11 He encounters Mary and Martha who had lost their brother Lazarus. Jesus knew He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead yet the Scriptures still record that “Jesus wept!” (vs 35) [We also have Scriptures that share that God rejoices over us… see Zeph 3:17]

Isn’t that incredible? God is “all in” with us in our daily lives. I know we are aware He was “all in” for our salvation… but remember He cares about what you are going through today!

If you get a chance look up the song “When I Cry” by the Gaither Vocal Band. It is a beautiful reminder that “When I cry, You (God) cry! When I hurt You hurt… cause nothing breaks Your heart, or tears You apart, like when I cry!”