PUP ROGERS, STUDENT MINISTER
There have been many events that have caused us to want to live in the past and focus on what was. Lately, I have found myself pondering some of my happier experiences. Since it is bedlam week, I will share some of my favorite bedlam memories. In full transparency, I am a huge OSU fan, so my stories will be biased. Some of those memories were in 2011 when Brandon Weeden led the Cowboys to victory. I rushed the field as a 30-year-old with a man that was 60, and he beat me to the 50-yard line to celebrate.
Then there was the "kick it again Bob game" where Bob Stoops elected to kick a punt again, allowing Tyreek Hill to return the kick for a touchdown and the win. I remember the tailgates and friendship. I like the banter back and forth from fans from the other team. And I love wearing orange to church when we win.
But for all the good, I also remember the bad. Need I mention the 90's. I remember my heart getting ripped out when a quarterback didn't make a throw to a wide-open receiver that would have won the game. I remember being at Disney World and screaming at my phone in a restaurant in a shoot-out that lead to an eventual loss.
There is the good, and there is the terrible, and I remember it all.
But really, so is the Christian life. We know that there are good times and that there are bad times. Sometimes we focus on the good and say, man, that was a blessing. Sometimes we long for the good and say, “if we could only get there again.” Still, other times we look at the bad and say thank you, Lord, I never have to go through that again. While we know that sometimes the worst times in our lives lead to some of the biggest blessings. We don't know. But let me let you in on a truth that we forget sometimes. In the book of Hosea, we see a passage that speaks to this. I think that God probably remembers the good and the bad as well. Yet here is the incredible thing. He is the one that can fix it. He remembers, and He still loves.
Hosea 10: 8-10
“My heart is torn within me, and my compassion overflows. No, I will not unleash my fierce anger. I will not completely destroy Israel. For I am God and not a mere mortal. I am the Holy One living among you. And I will not come to destroy for someday the people will follow me. I, the Lord, will roar like a lion. And when I roar, my people will return trembling from the west.”
I love this passage because God remembers his love for a people that at times were good and at other times were so far away from him. His love and mercy are new. Oh, to hear the roar of a crowd when a team does something great, compared to the roar of the Lord, it will be like a whisper. God's love is so good, and we can rest in it. I say this now that some of us need to be reminded that the God we serve is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is calling us to return and seek him.
May this day you find peace in the Lord! And (Go Pokes!).
Pup