August 15, 2016 - He's Got This!

I loved the scene in the movie Hoosiers where the team from the little small town goes into Hinkle Fieldhouse for the first time to get ready for the state championship game; the guys literally stood in awe and wonder (and a bit of fear) as they looked around… (I can remember playing there my freshman year of high school and drinking in that same awe and wonder of Indiana hoops in that building; it was awesome being on that floor. And now a young man I used to coach is calling that his home court… Go Bulldogs!)

In the movie it was the team from Hickory (but truly was a team from the little town of Milan) and that fieldhouse was huge in their eyes. I’m sure they felt like those stands looked like mountains… not to mention how the difference in depth perception changes how even the baskets look. And then on top of that, they were the tiny school facing the large powerhouse school from Indianapolis (in real life Muncie Central) in the championship.

They were afraid and obviously wondering how they could climb the mountains in front of them when the coach does something ingenious; he pulls out a tape measure and checks the length of the free throw line… 15 ft. just like in Hickory’s gym…. the height of the basket 10 ft. just like in Hickory’s gym… and they began to be comforted by what the coach had shown them. Before they walk out of the gym one of the boys yells out, “Hickory”, and listens for the echo coming back from those “mountains” of bleachers.

This week I am reading a book (A Bend in the Road) by Dr. David Jeremiah dealing with when he was facing a bend in the road or a mountain to climb. He shared in one of the chapters about Psalm 121 which is a song of ascent that was believed to be a song the Israelites used as they got ready for their journey to the holy city. It was a journey that was long and hard, involving going through and over some mountains…

Early in the journey they would look ahead at the difficulty of the mountains and the potential dangers and be a bit in awe and fear. This song of ascent (Psalm 121) begins with “I will lift my eyes to the hills-“ We know there is some trepidation because of the question that follows: “From whence comes my help?”

I don’t know what you are facing as you read this devotion… I do know what I am facing with the cancer and the Psalmist reminds us that “My help comes from the Lord…” We are reminded of why we can trust Him in this Psalm. We are even reminded that we can rest easy tonight knowing that the Lord “shall neither sleep nor slumber.”

No matter what lies ahead of us remember He’s got this!