Father of Lights and Friday Night Lights

Tonight is the night that football season begins at our son’s high school, and in all likelihood, he will be playing in the game. The Nelsons are excited, ready and incredibly surprised. Our son, David, is a senior and has never played high school football. Football is a completely new and welcome adventure for us. I know next to nothing about it and as a result, I don’t have any expectations, advice to give, or anxiety to give in to. I am just along for this joy ride. I am also amazed and thankful that this is God’s answer of “No” to years of other prayers.

David began playing year-round basketball when he was 9 years old. He worked hard at it and found success along the way. His basketball talent directed his college hopes and outlook. In our basketball-obsessed home, I spent as many hours praying for, worrying about and advising David as I spent watching him play. We are talking about 1,000’s of hours and prayers. I adore my son. I’m proud of him and I was sure that I knew what was best for him. Over the last few years, I watched him lose love for the game. The stress that accompanied his sense of responsibility to perform and excel was heavy. I missed his smile. There are few things more painful for a mom than to watch their children lose hope and confidence. I didn’t understand. I tried to encourage and I prayed and prayed. My habitual prayers that God would keep him safe and successful on the court began to include that God would restore his joy. I prayed for encouragement through recruiting and that God would divinely intervene and renew a sense of passion and enthusiasm. I was sure that a great performance or praise and promises from colleges would light him up and revitalize him. When he disclosed to us that he had made a decision not play basketball in college, I was bewildered and blue. I felt let down that God had said “No”. I wanted to manipulate and find a way to change his mind. I had invested so much and wasn’t ready to let go of my dreams for him. I had prayed that God would restore his joy and I clearly intended for the joy to be restored within the game and not for the boy to leave the game behind. When you spend countless hours investing in the temporary, temporary joy becomes your dominant ambition.

Football and the pleasure we have from this new adventure is temporary too, but it is a good and perfect gift. Just like the fading flower and withering grass, football has a short season. It is so tempting to live for the temporary, especially when the temporary is terrific. We recognize a good thing and want it to last forever. We ask God to bless the way we believe is best. When God’s best plan is different than the one we chose, we often feel resigned and obediently crabby to abide on His new path. We should not be so misguided as to pout when put on a new path and we absolutely should not wait to rejoice until our temporary circumstances improve.

Over the years, my prayers for my children have changed. The more time I spend praising God for who He is and thanking Him for what He has done, the less I am motivated to pray for the temporary. As I focus on the eternal, there is so much less stress. My joy is focused on the giver and not the gifts. My kids will win and they will lose. They will be given awards and injuries. They will be targets of praise and of slander and gossip. All of these things are seasonal. My greatest prayer is that each of my children would love Jesus even more than I do.

God has given our family a sweet temporary gift with a new football adventure. It seems He has also said “No” to the plan that I was sure was best for my son… this is also a gift, and yet the greatest gift He has given to all of us is His love and forgiveness. His love for us is not temporary; it is eternal. If we find our joy in anything other than Him, we will live a life of disappointment and disillusionment. When our feelings and emotions are based on the fulfillment of dreams and pain of broken dreams, we will live in an exhausting state of anxiety. Real joy comes from the eternal God and our pursuit to live a life based on a relationship of faith in Him; when it is, we can wake up every day full of thankfulness and hope. God is so good. He gives great gifts…temporary and eternal. He is the Father of Lights and Friday Night Lights. Rejoice in all of it.

 

“All flesh is grass,

And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

Because the breath of the Lord blows upon it;

Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers, the flower fades,

But the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:6-8 (NKJV)

 

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” James 1:17 (NKJV)

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked shall I return there.

The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;

Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21 (NKJV)