BAD CALL!!

God is not a referee. But if he were, He would never make a bad call.

If you are a sports fan you probably remember a couple pretty major referee blunders in the past several weeks. The first one I think about is the bad call that stripped a perfect game from a MLB pitcher and the second happened this morning in the FIFA World Cup tourney when USA, while kicking the ball into the net, was called for an obviously nonexistent foul resulting in the loss of the much needed go-ahead goal! Both calls resulted in public ridicule and critique of both the man and the league that hired him!

Here’s my point: …(besides the fact that Instant Replay should be used more often)…One man’s decision, made from a limited vantage point in the heat and speed of play, stole something that an individual and a team is clearly deserving of.

Again, God is not a referee but when it comes to His cosmic responsibilities to ‘give and take away’ ‘bless or curse’ and ‘heal or not heal’, we tend to visualize God dressed in pinstripes with a whistle as the ‘Line Judge’ of our lives. And the very moment we don’t agree with a call or His sovereign judgment, we cry “BAD CALL!! How could possibly understand what I’m going through – that’s unfair – God, do you see what I see?! How could you allow this?!”

But how many times have we heard stories of tragic and seemingly unfair situations bring the exact thing that draws people to God! People have re-prioritized their lives, changed habits and trusted in God for the first time as a result of the most tragic situations imaginable!

So, before we demand an Instant Replay when God does something that seems unfair to us or allows something that we don't deserve, let's look at the facts:

- God sees eternity; not our finite 85-year scope. He sees things from an angle we never will: Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 - For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by…and a thousand years are like a day…

- God loves every single human being passionately: Psalm 139 and Matthew 7 – I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made…how precious are your thoughts of me. How vast is the sum of them!...Your heavenly Father feeds the birds and are you not much more valuable than they!

- God is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-present: Matthew 19:26 - …with God all things are possible. 1 John 3:20 - …He (God) knows everything. Jeremiah 23:24 – Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?...Do I not fill heaven and earth!” – declares the LORD

Tip: Try being humbled by His sovereignty not threatened or angry! Let the infinite questions make you rest in Him and His love for you.