August 5, 2019 - "I Cost Us The Game"

Imagine a game where a player goes to the line with no time left on the clock… down by a point… and misses two free throws… That player, and maybe even some of the fans, will probably feel like he lost the game for the team… What if the player went up to the coach and said, “I cost us the game!”, and the coach responded, “You’re right!” (and maybe added to it all the other things the player had done wrong that game)?


No decent coach would ever dream  of being so crass. A coach may later work on some free throws with the player, but at the time would remind him that as a team, they all made mistakes that could have changed the outcome. The coach would want to encourage and motivate the player…


Being a coach… a counselor… a family member… or even just a good friend requires some tact…


This came to my mind as we wound down on our tour last night with a worship service in Alabama. The service was for Celebrate Recovery and we had an incredible time together; it was a room full of people with hurts, habits, and hang-ups… yet a people that knew they could come clean about those hurts without fear of being put down. My daughter shared a spoken word she wrote while battling her depression… the main testimony of the night was a lady sharing her story of depression and addiction to the meds… in spite of being a room full of people in need, it was a beautiful and encouraging night.


Along with that, we have dealt with others that are hurting badly… even in our own family. The battles are real! Yet, as I was driving home today, I kept thinking of a line in the book “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” (Philip Yancey), where a lady was asked if she had ever turned to the church for help. The best I can remember, her answer was something like, “Church, why would I go there? I already feel bad enough about myself!”


Whether it be in the church body, or even in our personal relationships, I think we too easily forget that one of our “duties” we are charged with as believers is to comfort others.


2 Corinthians 1:3-5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.


Here’s how Pastor Peterson put it in The Message: All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! HE comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, He brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of His healing comfort – we get a full measure of that, too.


Be there for someone today!