When Losing is Winning

Recently I entered a sweepstakes for a fake deer head. The shape was perfect, just like the one that used to hang in Grandma’s kitchen. An eight-point buck. But this one was white with pink antlers. Ideal for my bedroom. But I didn’t win.

Lest you think I’m crazy, I’ll admit I didn’t want to win. I had a bigger purpose in mind. One of my favorite websites, Zazzle, is running thirty days of giveaways. Every day you enter, the site puts your name in for the grand prize drawing, a chance to win a $1,000 shopping spree.

I cringed as I submitted my name for this faux taxidermy deer. But the opportunity to get $1,000 of merchandise was worth the risk of having a deer head show up on my front doorstep.

Now as I occasionally shed a tear over minor disappointments in life, I think of that deer head, and I realize that God has a bigger purpose. This thing I’m down about was never His plan. Had I gotten my way, I might have discovered it was as unappealing as a deer staring at me while I slept. But there is a grand prize waiting, and it will be amazing

      “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  II Corinthians 4:17-18 NKJV

 

Seeking True Love

Relief! I survived one more Valentine’s Day. As a single female approaching middle age, this lovesick holiday is not my favorite date on the calendar. But the ads for online dating sites do make me think about true love.

If love were just a state of mind, I could manipulate the process. I’d analyze men’s profiles. What are they looking for in a wife? Someone pretty, athletic, outgoing? I’d create the perfect persona. They would fall for me. It would feel so good. But, no…I can’t. There would be no truth.

This seems so obvious when discussing online dating. Why do we forget it when talking about our faith? Many people tell us that all religions are basically the same. Pick the one that works for you, the one that gives you peace and hope. They might have a point if the main purpose of religion were to make us feel good. We could even entertain their proposal if the purpose of religion were to make us do good. But that’s not what Jesus said.

When asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Jesus replied “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30 NKJV). I cannot love God unless I know the truth about Him. This can be scary. What if I find something I don’t like? What if I have to give up a treasured belief from childhood? What if I have to stand against the values of mainstream society?

Love is frightening. But it’s worth it in life and in faith. My prayer this year is that God will reveal to me more truth about Himself, and I commit myself to following the truth whatever the cost.