Lesson for the Week

The Faithful Friend

(11/9/10)

My boyfriend and I drove right into enemy territory this past weekend as we attended an NFL game in Charlotte between the New Orleans Saints and the North Carolina Panthers. I remember feeling a little conspicuous at first, walking around in our Saints hats and sweats, but not by boyfriend. He walked around proudly displaying his Saints gear and gave me the courage to do the same. When the Saints were close to scoring their first touchdown of the game, I remember thinking, “What were all these Panthers fans going to think of us rooting for the enemy? Are we going to get lynched?” No, no… we were fine; and happily enough, the Saints won 34-3. What I noticed as the game progressed, however, was how irritated the Panthers fans became. They came in at the beginning of the game with smiles on their faces, rooting for their boys to win. By halftime, about 1/3 of the people had left; and by the end of the third quarter, the stands were only about half full. I heard shouts from the people behind me saying that coming to see the Panthers had been a waste of their money. I heard insults being thrown at the players and the referees. Yes, the Panthers have had a terrible season thus far, but what happened to fan loyalty? Now, I had never been to a professional game before, so I expected that some of this behavior was normal; but as usual, it got me thinking. (For those of you who have been with me for a while, you know how dangerous that can be.J) Let’s consider the unpredictability of people in general. When things are going well in our lives, we appear to have lots of friends; but when things are rough, we find ourselves asking, “Where did everyone go?” One minute we’re on top, and the whole world is standing by us; but the minute we fall, we seem to be alone. What we must never forget is that there is someone who will never leave us. God tells us in Joshua 1:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NIV) When the storms of life are flooding us and everyone else has gotten in their boat and paddled away, God stays with us and keeps our heads above water. When we’ve fallen lower than we thought we could go and there’s no one around to help us find a ladder, God takes our hands and pulls us out of the pit we’re in. We can count on Him in the good times and the bad. We never have to worry about being alone because He is always with us. How awesome is that?

Psalm 18:32-36

Deuteronomy 33:12

Psalm 3