This week at work we had 4 classes of 3rd graders over 2 days come in for field trip tours of our ChickFilA and they were so much fun!  The kids got to see the kitchen, watch lemons being squeezed, chicken being cooked, etc.  Keith, a young guy in our kitchen, was working on Monday and he is 6’5″.  That is impressive to a lot of adults, but especially so to eight year olds, who kept saying, “He’s SO big!”  They couldn’t get over how tall he was and how easy it was for him to reach the top shelves.  Later, as our owner was showing them the ladders that we use to access the top shelves, because our shelves go floor to ceiling and are full of supplies, he explained ladder safety and showed them where we hung them.  Whereupon one little boy said, “You don’t need a ladder…you just need a Mr. Keith!”  The whole kitchen burst into laughter, and we joked about that story all day long.

There is a great spiritual lesson in this story.  When facing certain times of want or need in our spiritual walk with the Lord, we often try to use our own “ladders”.  We think if we just pray more (one rung), add some more Bible reading (another rung), attend church more (another rung), treat people better (another rung), etc, etc, we can reach new goals, or do more for Jesus, or bring to pass something that we desire.  The only problem is we are building that ladder with faulty materials – our own strength – and it is not very sturdy!  Also, like the ladder at work, ours can only do so much.  With Keith, you have movement, reaching, stretching, and thinking above and beyond what the ladder is capable of.

Guess what?  With God, we have WAY beyond also!  Our puny little efforts might get us a little way, but not far.  But with God, ALL things are possible.  Our “and yet!” God has all power, all authority, and all ability to create us, sustain us, and lift us up to newer and greater heights than we have ever been before.  Aren’t you glad that “He’s SO big”??  I am!

Throughout my life I have heard stories of God’s miraculous saving of people thought long gone, and have known a few of the families or been part of churches where it happened..but I had never experienced it on a personal level until now.

There has been a member of my immediate family who has spent a lifetime of running from the Lord..as fast and as far as he could.  That running included three broken marriages and three children, two of whom are grown and one who is elementary school now.  It also included other things that running does, like alcohol and drugs.  Family events came and went, sometimes with him and/or a wife or girlfriend or children, but most of the time not.  There were many years when most of us didnt even know where he was, or what shape he was in.  But GOD did!  And He never released my mom and others from praying for him.  But the years went on and no results.

AND YET!  God in His infinite patience and love NEVER gave up on my family member!  Long after I had grown up, married and entered ministry with so much activity and so many others to pray for that I forgot about him, God was still pursuing!  And finally this family member stopped….running away….and ran to God!

Now a perfect ending would be all is well, but of course consequences can be heavy.  While he is now a child of God, heaven bound and loving Jesus, real life is still there.  His dad is 81 and suffering with dementia and will never know that his son came home..and yet!  He and his dad will mert again heaven and spend eternity “catching up”!  My family member has also now been diagnosed with cancer..very serious..but we are praying for a merciful healing.  And there’s a whole lifetime of family moments and memories he missed.

AND YET!  God won!  Another member of my family will spend the rest of his life praising God, and bringing others to Him!  And that is hope worth sharing!

Every job has its details that can be considered tedious, or unimportant when being done, and mine is no exception.  One of the major things front counter people do is stock…sauces, cups, lids, bags, etc, to have them at the ready at each station when the rushes come.  There is nothing necessarily glamorous or exciting about stocking 200 packets of mayonaise or jelly – and it has to be repeated frequently.  And yet!  When the customers are lined up 10 deep at breakfast with work and school deadlines looming, that stock work becomes invaluable!  The pressure of quick service is greatly relieved when I know that I have everything.I need at hand to make it happen, and I am successful.

There is a spiritual application here concerning God’s Word.  Psalm 119:11 is one of the first Bible verses a lot of us ever learned -thy Word I have hidden in my heart – and yet it is also one that a lot of us struggle with even today.  NOT that reading God’s Word is tedious (like my stocking) but memorizing it CAN seem that way.

AND YET!  When the spiritual battles rage, the trials come, and temptation knocks on our door, the ONLY thing that will keep the pressure off and make us successful is our “stock pile” of memorized verses!  And like at work, the supply needs to be replenished over and over again, to keep us going.

After all, one day our Bibles may not be in reach or available at all.  One of my favorite senior adult friends spent the last week of her life awake 24/7 in the hospital, unable to read, and yet she recited Scripture until she died.  That’s a life that was well prepared to face that week!

SO!  Let’s stock up.  We need to spend the time and effort now preparing and working to have a full supply of Scripture to face every “rush” of doubt or fear or challenge that we have!  To God be the glory!

I am not a March Madness kinda girl.  I like baseball, am PASSIONATE about college (only) football, but there is no need in my life for basketball.  Sorry, but it’s true.

However, this morning as I was getting ready for church, a coach was being interviewed after his team won a very close game..down to the wire close.  He was asked what particular strategy his team had used for this game that might have helped them win.  His respnse was this: “we don’t go out and play with the attitude of how can we keep from losing.  We go out with the attitude of how can we WIN”.

How refreshing it would be if we were to use the same strategy in our spiritual lives!  Too oftem today I meet-and occasionally am one-Christians who live and work as if the war has slready been lost.  We say things like abortion will never be repealed, people will never quit living together/drinking/using drugs (or any other thing) and we need to hold on to what little we have left and just pray for God to come soon.

Really?  Does that sound like people of an “and yet!” God?  No!  That same coach went on to say that his team goes out with the expectation that they WILL win and they plan from there.

Well ok..it works for them!  But how much more confident would they be if they KNEW they were going to win?  They would play with no fear, no stress, and no hesitation.

As we prepare for this week, Holy Week that leads up to Easter, I am asking God to remind me every day what this werk means-that God WON!  I dont have to approach my life or my ministry with the “playing not to lose” attitude! I have the complete assurance because of Jesus that I can have a “I can win”attitude..because HE did!  So if you are a born again believer, trusting in the cross for your salvation, join me in approaching this week with a winning attitude. I believe that is the best way to honor the sacrifice HE made!