Why did you stop coming forward to catch the ball? It's because of you we lost, screamed the team as we lost to our opponents.
What a sick feeling to feel like you let your side down..
Forward Friday walks us into the beginnings of Easter Holy week and the problem of pain. It seems as though we get flattened when things seem good and then there is a turn in the road.
How do we handle the twists and the problems those moments create?
It's not always easy when the Blue skies seem to dim and the flowers in the field shrivel up.
But, as always, there is good news medicine at the end!
Let's Get Into This!
A few weeks ago, my childhood friend reached out to get together because he had some things he wanted to talk about.
Russ was an amazing baseball player when we were teenagers and the conversation centered around an an incident during a playoff game against his team.
I had finally been getting more playing time on my team and first base was one of my favorite positions. I'm living the dream.....
Long story short, Russ was up at bat, hit a slow roller my way. Instead of moving in quickly, I took a step back. That step back enabled Russ to make it to 1st base safely and the tying and winning runs scored.
My team got so riled, they shoved me down and while I don't remember the knees and such, it was the words that really stung.
Like I meant to not make the play..... it wasn't easy and the next season, I was traded which was the best thing for me. Funny enough, that next season, my new team won the championship but the previous season was not kind to your boy.
It is the moments of life where we see blue skies and flowers in the field we're on only for something to come along and seemingly upset where we're at.
Pain is a real emotion that rears itself at the most inopportune moments and it really seems to upset the road of life when what we were seeing moments earlier were the blue skies and flowers in the field.
Just this past week, there have been sickness diagnosis's in a number of people that we know of.
-The sickness that is a battle people face. Some do not make it out or through the sickness and the loved ones have live through the pain of loss.
-Sometimes, the sickness may not kill the body but there is a daily pain and suffering component to life that makes each day a struggle to get through....
-There have been the grief filled moments of friends who have had to say goodbye to loved ones.
-There are the relationships that have been severed, marriages on the rocks and the like.
-Job loss, people in desperate shape because of the current economy and the list goes on.
How about the family members who have never been able to reconcile over differences and there is a split that seems wider than anything one could have imagined.
One may say, "Isn't this kind of depressing? Give me some good news please!"
One could be right yet sometimes, we human beings need to see with our eyes some of the pain others could be going through because pain is no respecter of persons.
We need to see with our eyes some of the pain others could be going through because pain is no respecter of persons.
It is also important to see that just because we may not experience a certain pain does not mean that the pain another person is experiencing isn't real or not at the same level we may think pain should be at.
So Who Do We Look To When the Blue Skies seem to turn grey and the flowers in the fields appear to dry up?
Here Is Some Good News Medicine For The Beginning Of Holy Week!
If there is one we should look to when we are facing skies that were once blue or the flowers in the field seem to be drying up, we can take solace or peace that Jesus ran that route. He knows what that looks like.
We can take solace or peace that Jesus ran that route..
So we see at the beginning of Holy Week or Palm Sunday as it is commonly referred to, Jesus is Making his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, one week before he will be crucified.
Mark 11:1-11 When they were nearing Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany on Mount Olives, he sent off two of the disciples with instructions: “Go to the village across from you. As soon as you enter, you’ll find a colt tethered, one that has never yet been ridden. Untie it and bring it. If anyone asks, ‘What are you doing?’ say, ‘The Master needs him, and will return him right away.’”
They went and found a colt tied to a door at the street corner and untied it. Some of those standing there said, “What are you doing untying that colt?” The disciples replied exactly as Jesus had instructed them, and the people let them alone. They brought the colt to Jesus, spread their coats on it, and he mounted.
The people gave him a wonderful welcome, some throwing their coats on the street, others spreading out branches they had cut in the fields. Running ahead and following after, they were calling out, Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in God’s name! Blessed the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in highest heaven!
He entered Jerusalem, then entered the Temple. He looked around, taking it all in. But by now it was late, so he went back to Bethany with the Twelve.
The Pageantry: Jesus is riding in on a donkey, coats were spread on the donkey so he could ride on it.
Did you know that the significance of Jesus riding in on a donkey spoke to his coming not only to be Israel's King but also to be it's Savior?
While a triumphant entry, it was also a modest entry that also showed that peace was coming.
The people are throwing their coats on the street, branches on the street and they are saying Hosanna, Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. The entry of the King who brings peace and salvation.
Could it also be that Jesus rode in on the donkey that not only fulfilled prophecy but also gave breath to the idea that He connects with all of us, from every walk of life?
The Mystery: How can it be that Jesus knows that in the middle of this "Blue Skies And Flowers In The Field" moment, this is not how the week will end but still will go through with it?
Some would say that God must be mad at us when we go through the grey skies, flowers dry up moments?
It is so far from the truth..
The Problem Of Pain In The Middle.. I must confess that my mind cannot fathom the mixed feelings Jesus must have felt that Sunday, knowing how things would rapidly change.
Things like: weeping and crying over Jerusalem because they missed who He was and how they would put him to death in a few short days because of what they missed about Him.
Being betrayed by one of his own disciples.
CS Lewis Says...
Pain is unmasked, unmistakable evil; every man/woman knows that something is wrong when he/she is being hurt…God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world…
I think it should be stated that bad theology or thinking has said that when pain comes, we must deserve it or we did something bad to deserve it. Or that God hates us in some way, shape or form
Nothing is further from the truth.
The pain we may be going through or have gone through is not a punishment. Our struggles are not because we didn’t pray the right way, or because we have weak faith etc.
Many times, God will use our pain in ways that we may not understand now, but one day we will. One day we will see how God used our pain to prepare us for an incredible future!
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!).
The Things I Think:
Easter Sunday is coming and with it brings life, hope and more to us but for today, if you are struggling because it seems like the sky is anything but blue or there is no possible way for anything to grow because life is/has been tough, there are 2 significant, important things to remember about Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem that many times goes unnoticed.
He knew where the donkey was that he would ride on into Jerusalem and He was precision oriented in the details to his disciples who went to get the donkey.
2. Before he left Jerusalem, while also at the temple he looked around, taking everything in or surveyed.
We can be sure that even in the craziest of circumstances, Jesus Sees, Jesus Knows, Jesus Cares and wants to be very much a part of when the "Skies Are Blue and The Flowers Are In The Field".
But He is just as if not more concerned to help us "When The Grey Skies Come And The Flowers Dry Up" times of our lives.
If He could walk through Palm Sunday into Holy week, knowing what's coming and still go through it, then we can know He can help us handle anything and everything we go through.
I'm so glad that He did because with Jesus on my side, walking with me, it makes the difference.
So, Russ coming to see me did one great thing that made a difference for me.
Remember that I said that I didn't remember so much the shoving, knees etc. but it was the words, the ugly put down words that happened so often as the kid who would be picked on by others.
As Russ said that he wanted me to know that even back then, "I wasn't alone" and that "He saw me", it seemed at that moment that any remnant of hurtful words used in the past just went away!
Like the Blue Skies came back in my mind from that time period and the field in my mind's eye just started blossoming with beautiful scenery!
It's Holy Week! Palm Sunday.. The Pageantry.. The Mystery.. The Problem Of Pain In The Middle Of... Blue Skies.. Flowers In The Field.. Easter Holy Week 2024..
What a week! And I know I'm never alone because Jesus knows and cares for us/me!
It's a great day!!!
Dave
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