Attention to Detail

Yesterday was the first day of games for our church's Upward Soccer league 2011 season.  As league directors we are responsible for making sure that games start on time, players and their families know which field to play on and which color jersey to wear, every game has a referee, concessions run smoothly, half-time devotions are covered, and that 150 children, their families, and coaches leave with smiling faces.  We don't do all these things alone, there is a great deal of help available to us, but ultimately it is our responsibility if a detail is overlooked.  After spending a great deal of time yesterday attempting to make sure all our bases were covered the best we possibly could, we left the field a little after three.  We were not the last to leave, and believed that the couple of people who were left would cover the last few clean up details.  We drove back by the church a couple hours later to discover we were very wrong.  No one had taken the two bags of trash to the dumpster and the wind had scattered it all across the soccer field!  Trash was everywhere, littering the field and the wooded area surrounding it.  The garbage we thought was taken care of had come back to haunt us.

How many times does this happen in our own lives?  We think we have something contained and it comes back even more fiercely than before.  Maybe it's unforgiveness or bitterness about something that we think we have locked away.  Maybe it's some bad habit that we think we have kicked and it comes back when we find ourselves in a stressful situation.  Whatever it is in our life that we believe we have under control may be just a good strong wind away from wreaking havoc all over again.  There is One who is able to help us overcome the garbage in our lives.  He will be our strength in time of weakness and stress, He is the one who is able to calm the winds in our lives or to help us find a place of peace and rest so that we can withstand the storms.  He is the Lord Jesus, who died and rose again so that He could remove all our garbage and replace it with "abundant life."

Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you.  1 Peter 5:6-7 (NASB)