We are waist deep into basketball season. The high school games are coming to an end, college games are making their last efforts so they can make the tournament, and NBA is getting ready for the All-Star break. No matter what basketball team you are a fan of or may enjoy watching there is one thing they all have in common: the 6th man. The 6th man is they person that didn't quite make the cut into the starting line up however they are the first one off the bench when someone isn't quite getting the job done on the court or needs a break mentally or physically. The NBA actually has an award for the best "6th man."
There are times in a our lives when we feel God just isn't getting the job done or God must be tired because he is not hearing me and doing what I ask. We feel God is not answering our prayers the way we think he should so we call in our 6th man...the world. Maybe you have prayed to feel accepted and you still don't so you compromise your values and stoop to gossiping. Maybe you have asked God to take away the pain emotionally and it hasn't gotten any better so you turn to things of this world: alcohol, food, shopping etc. to numb it. There are so many ways we turn to the world for answers after asking God the questions...just Ask King Saul.
We have talked a little bit about King Saul and his struggles of understanding what a true relationship with God looks like. We get another glimpse of that in 1 Samuel 28:
(After Samuel died) "And Saul had banned from the land of Israel all mediums and those who consult the spirits of the dead." vs. 3b
vs. 5 "When Saul saw the vast Philistine army, he became frantic with fear. He asked the Lord what he should do, but the Lord refused to answer him, either by dreams or be sacred lots or by the prophets. Saul then said to his advisers, "Find a woman who is a medium, so I can go and her what to do."
Like Saul, we start out by doing the right things when everything is going our way, but it is when we are opposed, tempted, or frightened when we can become weak and quickly call in the "6th man." We are so quick to turn to the world for our answers when God is just asking us to be patient and trust him when we ask the questions. We don't like this waiting because we have no control in the waiting room. Our entire lives is God asking us to give up our control so that he can have His. He is the God of relationships...so wait. He is the God of forgiveness....so wait. He is the God of love...so wait. He is the God of jobs....so wait. Because as long as we search for the answers in the world, our questions will never be answered by God.
So whatever waiting room you are waiting in today....God is working. One of my favorite verses is John 5:17..."And Jesus replied, "My father is always working and so am I." So if you have prayed and God seems silent, trust that God is working. Working in you. Working through you. Working for you.
I don't know about you...but the world needs to sit the bench!
