Team Player part 4
It can be tricky, being a team player. Because while love IS for everybody--freely we have been given love, freely we ought to give love--you really shouldn't put yourself, or keep yourself, in a bad situation. On a bad team, if I can say it that way. So it takes a bit of wisdom to decide whether or not the juice is worth the squeeze. Because there's a difference between building something, and banging your head against the wall. Because the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. I mean, Jacob worked for like 8 years to earn his wife, right? Some things are worth putting maximum effort into. And some things aren't. Wisdom is knowing the difference. Giving something everything you have and everything you are is always my litmus test. Because once you've given something eveything you have and everything you are, its either enough... or its not. And either way, you've done what you can do. You should never be expected to do more than you can do. You can't give what you don't have. And you can only give what you do have. Now, having said that, I do want to qualify it. Love is all powerful. Which doesn't mean MOST powerful. It means ALL of the power. There is nothing that can stand against the power of love. But love isn't about getting what you want. You don't love someone in order to make them do something. Love is never about getting. That kind of nonsense is manipulation and control. Love IS giving. Seeing a need and meeting it. Living out of our abundance. Freely giving what we've been freely given. So love people. First, last, and always. But turning the other cheek doesn't mean stand there and let someone keep hitting you. It means don't retaliate. Long suffering doesn't mean you have to suffer for a long time. It means you have the patience and the fortitude to withstand what you're going through. Its so important, when we're going through something, to make sure it doesn't go through us. To know that all things are under our feet--because all things are under Jesus' feet--and be able to rise above the things that would try to pull us down. To lay aside the sin and the weight that so easily besets us. To let go and let God. As the Gambler said, "You gotta know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em." Not every hand is a winner. Not every team is for life. So stand when its time to stand. If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. But move when its time to move. In the Old Testament God lived in a tabernacle. And it was portable. When He moved, the people of Israel moved. Don't stay where you're at JUST because its where you're at. That's called being stuck. In a rut. Which is a grave. With the ends kicked out. Death, in other words. Going through the motions. Banging your head against the wall and coming away with nothing but a headache. That's not what life is for. That's not what life is about. That's not what life is. Life is for love. Life is about love. Life IS love. To live is to love, and to love is to live. And life's a mystery. So don't get stuck on one team. Go where God leads. And enjoy the ride!