The peace of purpose

Football is a sport of strategy and I have often compared it to human chess. We change our formations, personnel sets, plays, etc in an attempt to outwit our opponents. However, the most successful and dominant teams rely less on these elements and more on being dominant.

There is an amazing peace that comes with the knowledge that we can call the same three plays over and over throught the entirety of a game knowing the opponent can't stop us. We don't need a trick play, we don't need complex formations with integral shifting. Instead, we simply run the same play back to back to back and the opponent has no answer.

This confidence comes from our knowledge of ourselves more than the skills and personell of our opponents. We have seen every formation opponents will utilize to counter our attack and our guys are not affected because they have faith in the process of what we do.

Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it –Genesis 28:16

We can never find true meaning, true significance apart from God. He is with us at all times and we can not escape his presence. He is with us when we choose to sin or put the busy elements of our lives in front of time spent with Him.

There is no peace apart from God. The plays of prayer, submission and worship are all we need to succeed. We can fill our spiritual game plan with many other plays and equate fellowship with other Christians as being the same as time with God... but it is not.

Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?" declares the Lord. Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?"declares the Lord (Jeremiah 23:24).

But . . . if we decide to look for him, where we are, where we spend the most important moments of our lives, we can begin to reclaim meaning and significance. We can begin to discover why he has us in those times/places, and what he intends for us there. And, they too can become Holy ground.

Okay, so what do we do?

Begin opening our minds to the fact that God is present with us, right now . . . this day, this week. Ask him to show himself to us—outside of church, in our school, our home. Begin turning our minds to him, focusing our gaze upon Him, especially in times/places where, in the past, we have not. Then we will find the peace of purpose.