Heaven Is Cheering Us On

Like most of you, looking out into the world’s activities, my emotions are like runny scrambled eggs – unappetizing and all over the place. All I can do is encourage you.

Time was slipping away, and it being a school night, a mother sent her fifth-grade boy to bed. In a few minutes she went to make sure he was getting into bed. When she stuck her head in his room, she saw that he was kneeling beside his bed in prayer. Pausing she heard her son praying over and over again, “Let it be Tokyo! Please, dear God, let it be Tokyo!” After his prayer she entered his room to say good-night and asked him, “What did you mean, ‘Let it be Tokyo’?” “Oh,” the boy said with some embarrassment, “We had our geography exam today and I was praying that God would make Tokyo the capital of France.” Prayer is not a magical means by which we get God to do what we want. While God desires that we bring our petitions to him, He has not promised to give us everything that our heart desires. We realize that a godly earthly father sorts through the needs and wants of his child and ultimately decides to give his child what is in his best interest and what will bring that child the most happiness in the long run. William Temple was right when he said, “We do not pray in order to change His will, but to bring our own will into harmony with His.” As we make our requests to God, we remain open to the idea that God may have something better in mind for us. His purpose may be fulfilled in our lives in a way we cannot even imagine. So, if we pray like we ought, we come away feeling blessed, knowing that God has received our petition, but confident as well knowing that if God knows a better path for our lives, He will lead us in that direction. Please continue to pray that our leaders and society as a whole will turn to God in prayer and return to the godly country that was once in majority with God’s will.

[Romans 8:26-39] The ten-year-old stood at the plate. His batting stance was not great, but neither was it terrible. He nervously stared at the pitcher as he began his wind-up. With runners on second and third and his team down by one run, he needed to get a hit. The pitch...the batter stares as the perfect third strike passes him and caught by the catcher. The umpire rings him up, and he begins to jog down-trodden back to the dugout. What can be heard from the stands are not jeers but cheers. There is an encouraging flow of, “It’s alright!” and “You’ll get ‘em next time!” especially from the section where his parents were setting. You see, no matter what happened on the field that day, that boy was loved by his parents. He could have dropped every ball hit to him, missed every pitch he swung at, or fell down as he walked out of the dugout. None of that mattered. His parents loved him and were there for him no matter what. As we live our Christian lives, we need to remember that we are not on the field alone. We are not trying to live this life for Jesus without our supporters. We have each other (Hebrews 10:24; Colossians 2:2). But, on a grander scale, we have a heavenly audience rooting for us. Jesus said that once we are in the Father’s hand, no one or no thing can take us out of it (John 10:27-30). Paul wrote that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:26-39). As long as we are on the field, we need to remember that in the stands, so to speak, our Father and our Lord are rooting for us no matter what happens. First John, Chapter one, clearly states we must walk in the Light, stay on the field, and in spite of the falls, in spite of the strike-outs, pick yourself up and keep going. And by the grace of God we’ll win the game.