Why the BCS is Bogus. A Dawg's Perspective

I know this isn't what I usually post about on my blog, but here's the bottom line. I'm a sports fan. I'm a huge sports fan. Namely, I'm a Georgia fan. I love my Dawgs.

I love sports because they should symbolize fairness and objectivity in a world that doesn't remember what either of those words mean. What a sport should be is for two players or two teams to take the field, take the mat, or take the court and duke it out to see who wins. At the end of that day, we should all definitively know who the winner is.

But there's the rub.

How do we decide who gets to play?

I hate the BCS. I truly do. I have no idea how to set up the ideal playoff, but I know that we need one. Let me take you back in time to my freshman year.

I was a newly born baby Redcoat. I suffered my heart to be broken at the hands of Tennessee and South Carolina. But then the miracle season took shape. We beat Florida on the wings of Knowshon leaping over a goal line stand effort. We beat Auburn in a nationally televised blackout. We were playing football as well as anyone else in the country. When all was said and done- everything but the last game of the regular season at least- Georgia was ranked number four. I remember hearing the words over and over again: "hottest team in the country." We were synonymous with high energy and with Soulja Boy. We danced. We punched the SEC in the mouth. We were good. Great, even.

Then the unthinkable happened.

The number 1 and number 2 lost.

Logic would say that if the 1 and 2 lose and the 3 and 4 win, the 3 and 4 should move up to 1 and 2. But that didn't happen.

Cue Les Miles.

Les Miles and everyone else in the country stepped up and said "Georgia isn't going to play for their conference championship. LSU is."

LSU was ranked 7th.

LSU went on to beat Tennessee and rose to number 2 in the rankings. Winning the SEC meant something.

I understood that then. Truthfully, we didn't win our conference. In a completely fair move, LSU did win their conference and represent the SEC in the national title game. They slaughtered Ohio State and brought the bling back. Georgia was excluded from the title game on the sole basis that we did not play for or win our own conference. If you can't win your conference, you shouldn't play for the nation. Right, Jim Rome?

Fast forward to 2011. Here we are again.

Except now, Alabama isn't even going to be at the game in Atlanta this weekend. They get to compete for the big pot at the final table without even buying into the poker match. LSU gets a free pass to the game even if they lose. Georgia has to blow LSU out to keep them out of the game, according to the media.

What happened? How does this make sense?

The SEC Championship, the game that for the last six years has decided the national champion, has just been made a mockery of. The BCS, who has lived and died on the moniker of "in our system, every game matters" since its inception, is finally laying that aside and showing its true colors. It doesn't matter who loses to who. It doesn't matter if you win your conference or not. It matters who can field the best PR campaign.

Just to help you out, I posted some videos. The first batch is from 2007:

Please note. You have to win your conference to play in the game.

And now here are some videos from this year:

And now winning your conference doesn't really matter. It's about the two teams that are the "best." It's about who is the "hottest team in the country." It's not about who beat who or who actually wins. I thought this was common sense, Jim Rome? No? Ok.

And now, just to prove it's not just ESPN and CBS: Even the New York Times thinks this travesty of a rematch is a foregone conclusion.

Dawgs, lets do this one right. Win this game. Win it in spectacular fashion. We can't do anything about Alabama. We don't get to play them.

But there is one thing we can do.

Shut. LSU. Out.

Go Dawgs.

The Object of my Faith

If you've never read anything by C.H. Spurgeon, you should.

Morning and Evening - Evening, September 6

"If ye be lead of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." Galatians 5:18

He who looks at his own character and position from a legal point of view, will not only despair when he comes to the end of his reckoning, but if he be a wise man he will despair at the beginning; for if we are to be judged on the footing of the law, there shall no flesh living be justified. How blessed to know that we dwell in the domains of grace and not of law! When thinking of my state before God the question is not, “Am I perfect in myself before the law?” but, “Am I perfect in Christ Jesus?” That is a very different matter. We need not enquire, “Am I without sin naturally?” but, “Have I been washed in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness?” It is not “Am I in myself well pleasing to God?” but it is “Am I accepted in the Beloved?” The Christian views his evidences from the top of Sinai, and grows alarmed concerning his salvation; it were better far if he read his title by the light of Calvary. “Why,” saith he, “my faith has unbelief in it, it is not able to save me.” Suppose he had considered the object of his faith instead of his faith, then he would have said, “There is no failure in him, and therefore I am safe.” He sighs over his hope: “Ah! my hope is marred and dimmed by an anxious carefulness about present things; how can I be accepted?” Had he regarded the ground of his hope, he would have seen that the promise of God standeth sure, and that whatever our doubts may be, the oath and promise never fail. Ah! believer, it is safer always for you to be led of the Spirit into gospel liberty than to wear legal fetters. Judge yourself at what Christ is rather than at what you are. Satan will try to mar your peace by reminding you of your sinfulness and imperfections: you can only meet his accusations by faithfully adhering to the gospel and refusing to wear the yoke of bondage.

It's not about me. It's not about my sin. Sure, sin affects my life. Sin affects all of our lives because we're human, but ultimately, the universe doesn't revolve around my sin. The universe revolves around Jesus.

It's really easy for me to beat myself up. Either I did something I shouldn't have, I didn't do something I should have, I didn't do something as well as I'd like to have done, or I forgot a critical detail that in all likelihood caused something to blow up or fail.

I have moments of doubt. I have moments of fear. I have moments when my sin seems so large, when I'm so aware of the fact that my flesh wants to rebel, that the idea of a Holy God calling me His son seems so far away. I have plenty of moments in which I feel so overwhelmed that I feel like the rest of the world must look at me and wonder what I missed out on to become so weak and scatterbrained.

If I dwell on all of the weakness within myself, there needn't be any wonder that I go down the emotional tank when things get rough.

In and of myself, I am weak. But it's not about me. It's about Jesus. I can't allow myself to dwell on my weak moments of faith. I can't have faith in my faith. I have to have faith in Jesus. When I am weak, He is strong. When I have moments of fear, He has more bravery and strength than anyone could ever dream of. When I am doubtful, He is sure.

Even in moments when I don't FEEL like I'm on top of everything I should be, I have learned (I hope) that in Christ, there is freedom. And those He has set free are free indeed. He's freed me to depend on Him. His righteousness is my righteousness. His strength is my strength. His victory is my victory. His death was my death, and His resurrection is my eternal life.

Rattled by Lyrics

This isn't going to be some deeply introspective blog post. Well, maybe it will be, but not because I had some deep inspiration and wrote something amazing. Instead I hope that I'll be able to share just a thought or two that I had and a greater thought that someone else did.

I'm a really big doctrine nerd. Not that I enjoy sitting in a room by myself and reading old dead guys...I prefer to actually do things and have a social life. Besides, if we just sit there and read books by old dead guys and never do anything, chances are we didn't understand what the old dead guys had to say anyway (I'm going to have a take a Tylenol to relieve the pain that the conviction over that statement caused me). But doctrine and theology are important. I believe that's why if you look at the structure of the book of Ephesians, Paul starts with what we should believe, and what we should do flows out of that. What we believe affects what we do. What we believe IS what we do. So for that reason, doctrine is important.

Doctrine is what we know to be true of God and who He is.

"I don't need doctrine! I don't need theology! I have a relationship." *insert smug grin*

Yeah. Because that's how it works in real life. If you "know somebody really well" but you know nothing about them...how does that even make sense? Oh well. I digress.

All that to say that I think doctrine is important.

Something else that is really important to me is music. To put it in the words of a powerful worship leader I saw recently (even though I have no clue who he was), we can all agree that there is something magical about music. Our God is a God of order, and music is one of the chief expressions of order and harmony. I affects me on a deep level. It's my favorite way to express what I'm feeling.

So doctrine is important. Music is great. What's REALLY great is when good music relates good doctrine. Almost brings me to tears.

This song actually did/does bring me to tears. I've heard it before, but it's recently become new to me again. Enjoy the Gospel in song, courtesy of Charitie Lees Smith.

Before the Throne of God Above 

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea.

A great high Priest whose Name is Love

Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands,

My name is written on His heart.

I know that while in heaven He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair

And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look and see Him there

Who made an end of all my sin.

Because my sinless Savior died

My sinful soul is counted free.

For God the just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,

My perfect spotless righteousness,

The great unchangeable I AM,

King of glory and of grace.

One in Himself I cannot die. 

My soul is purchased by His blood.

My life is hid with Christ on high,

With Christ my Savior and my God.

The Gospel is Everything

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the Testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.


1 Corinthians 2:1-5, ESV

This is just something I've been mulling lately. I'm tired of being impressed with flashy lights, spotless music, manicured artists and speakers. I'm tired of worrying about the atmosphere, the ambiance, and the setup. I'm tired of worrying about programs, style, and events. These things have their place, but their place should never occupy the same place as the Gospel.

The Gospel is everything.

It pervades our love lives, our jobs, our work ethic, our friendships, our homes, and our families. It's there whether we live by it or not. If we're not for Him, we're against Him. Every choice we make, believers and nonbelievers, is a choice for or against the Gospel.

The Gospel is not a social gospel that seeks to right the wrongs of society without ever mentioning God. Or heck, maybe the social gospel does mention some ambiguous "god" but it never mentions Jesus. Lots of people believe in "god" but a precious few actually cling to Jesus as the head and authority figure over their lives.

The Gospel is a bloody, hideous, scandalous, offensive thing. The Gospel is that we murdered God. We murdered Jesus. Every single one of us. Our crimes in the face of a holy, blameless, loving God drove nails through his hands and feet into a medium of execution so vile that a citizen of the Roman state wasn't even permitted to be killed that way.

The Gospel is a scandal in the sense that it makes no sense for God to do what He did for us. I know I walk around with a sense of entitlement, like salvation is normal. Like it's somehow the default or is just expected. Nothing can be farther from the truth! For Jesus to extend his hand in friendship and love, He, God, had to die a brutal, gruesome death. At any time He could have eradicated planet Earth with a word and started over, and He would've been completely just in doing it.

I got annoyed at people a few times this weekend on Ride for Christ. It may have been because I was running on zero hours of sleep for almost 2 days, but that doesn't really matter. I was impatient with them then, and I was impatient with the lady in the drive through tonight after almost 10 hours of sleep. I have no excuse. I'm rotten to the core.

My mind is broken. I think things I don't want to think. I want things I don't want to want. I get mad at things I shouldn't get mad at. I DON'T get mad at things I SHOULD get mad at. But instead of God doing what He should do and damning me to Hell, a place of conscious eternal torment, He instead chooses to die and pays the price for what I do.

The Gospel is all we have. Yesterday was Reformation Day. It was on that day that many years ago that a man named Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses to the door of a church. It was the day that a man stood up and said the Gospel is everything.

The Gospel IS everything.

Don't tell me 7 steps on how to live better. Don't tell me about larger buildings, or more people in pews, or more money in accounts. Does that sound hippie-ish? Maybe. I don't really care. I understand that those are important matters, and there are places for them. But they should never be the focus of what happens in the church. The church is a place that the Gospel is proclaimed day in and day out.

How do I live better? More Jesus. How do I deal with anger? More Jesus. How do I deal with impatience? More Jesus. How do I deal with sadness? More Jesus. How do I deal with being scared? More Jesus. How do I deal with loneliness? More Jesus. How do I deal with pride? More Jesus. How do I deal with apathy? More Jesus.

The Gospel is everything.

Sometimes it makes me just want to scream! I want to hear more about Jesus! I don't want to ever get past the cross! There is nothing deeper. There is nothing more complex. There is nothing about the cross that we'll ever be able to understand fully on this mortal plane except that it's sufficient to pay the price because of the Christ who hung upon it. We'll never dig deep enough into Jesus' healing power. We'll never dig deep enough into His authority, His humility, His might, His assault on the gates of hell and bondage to sin and depravity. We'll never reach the point at which we can say, "Ok, I've got the cross. On to the good stuff."

The Gospel is everything.

Film, Pharisees, and Frustration

I’m back!

It’s fall. I’m employed. I’m still broke. I’m kind of a senior.

These (except for being broke) are all new things that apply to me since the last time the I posted. That was way back there in April, back when I still believed that UGA’s football team had a prayer in 2010. Here’s to high hopes that didn’t pan out.

Regardless, back to the employment thing. I have a job now! It’s an odd job, but a job nonetheless. I take pictures of newspapers these days. When I’m not taking pictures of newspapers, I’m looking at microfilm of pictures of newspapers. It’s monotonous, but I don’t really mind it because I have lots of time with my iPod, so I can catch up on podcasts and audiobooks as I go. It’s been great, but two days ago I was floored by some scripture I heard in a sermon. The text was from John 5:

“So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk?’ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.’ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’”

John 5:10-17

In verses fifteen and sixteen the Jews persecute Jesus because He heals on the Sabbath.

Stop and think about that for a second. What exactly did He do on the Sabbath?

He healed somebody.

Who heals people? God.

Would I be out of line if I said that these Pharisees were mad at God for being God? I mean, think about it. This man has lay by this pool at Bethesda for 38 years. He’s been a patient man. He’s been a frustrated man. Every day when the pool would stir, he’d try his hardest to get there, to have just a little bit of hope that that would be the day his miracle would arrive. But he kept failing. And the people kept walking by.

They would see him every day and come to accept his position as normal, as the status quo. He’s crippled, sure, but that’s just who he is. It’s who he was, it’s who he is, and it’s who he’s going to be. Throw him a dollar every now and then but don’t worry about it. And when the pool would stir, he would have no one to help him into it. He wanted healing so badly that he’d struggle to try and get over, but he just wasn’t fast enough. First come first serve on the miracles, son. Work for it if you want it. That’s the way it is.

And then comes Jesus. Throws a monkey wrench into everything.

“Do you want to be healed?”

Jesus tells him to take up his bed and walk. On the Sabbath. This man knew just like everyone else that he wasn’t supposed to work on the Sabbath, but he also knew that this Man who had just healed him had some kind of authority and power. If He could heal a 38-year invalid, He could tell him to walk on the Sabbath.

This man honored God by obedience. He enjoyed the gift that Jesus gave him, the gift of mobility. And what did the Pharisees do? Rejoice? Far from it. Rather than enjoying seeing the power of God at work in Christ, they resented it and were furious that this Man, who was claiming equality with God, didn’t fit inside the box that they’d built for God to fit in.

Let’s get legal.

Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death. You shall kindle no fire in all your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.

Exodus 35:2-3

I’m so confused as to where they’re finding that he can’t take the bed that he’s been lying on for 38 years home. If I had been lying on the same mat for 38 years because I couldn’t walk, it would not feel like work at all to pick that trash up, take it away, and go find somewhere to dance. That’s not work. That’s liberation. But the Pharisees didn’t see that. They had made rules for themselves. They were righteous because their pedometers said so. “If you take one more step than me, you deserve to be stoned! How dare you break the Torah?!” Except that it’s not in there. The Pharisees weren’t mad because Jesus broke God’s Torah. They were mad because He broke THEIR torah.

How do you rebuke a man for a miracle on the Sabbath? Isn’t God in control of miracles? Isn’t God in control of the Sabbath? So if there’s a miracle on the Sabbath, don’t you kind of have to think that God gave it the OK?

I was really quick to rebuke the Pharisees in my brain until I started thinking about it.

I do the exact same thing.

God has unstoppable power and immutable authority. Psalm 115 says that God does whatever He wishes. He can rock miracles on the Sabbath because He made the Sabbath. He wrote the law. As Jesus He kept the law. He fulfilled the law on the cross. And what do I do? Exactly what the Pharisees did. I make rules based on my self righteous morals that, in my mind, govern how God should act. If He doesn’t act by my rules, on my timetable, according to my requests, how often do I call foul? I’m quick to cry for justice and fairness, but I really shouldn’t be. The Gospel isn’t fair. Fair is God killing me and sentencing me to the conscious eternal torment in Hell right now, because that’s what the filth of my sin deserves. That’s fair. That’s justice.

So here I am, in my filth but for the atoning blood of Christ, and somehow I’ve come to the arrogant position of thinking I can tell God how He should treat me because “I deserve this” or “it’s not fair for You not to do this.”

Maybe it’s the fact that I live in a microwave, eHarmony, iTunes-already-on-my-iPod culture. I get to live in a world where everything is simple and all the work is taken out of it. Everything is available right in front of me (disclaimer: I DO NOT HAVE AN eHARMONY PROFILE). I can pop food in a microwave and it’s ready in 3 minutes. I can tell a computer I’m single and it’ll say, “Hey, meet her because she matches the checklist you filled out!” If I hear a song on the radio I want, I can buy it right then. I pick those three examples because they NAIL three cultural failings that have leaked into my life: Impatience, self-idolization, and impulsivity. I want something quickly and painlessly, exactly how I ordered it, just because I decided that I should have it. That is DISGUSTING.

I know God loves me and that He has a plan for me. His works are forever, His plans are forever, and He has plans for my hope and for my future. But that’s the key: they’re His plans. Not mine. His ways are above my ways. His thoughts are above my thoughts. When I see the power of God at work in others, I should rejoice in it. I should be happy because God is showing Himself generous and glorious in them. When something hasn’t quite arrived in my life yet, I need to just keep living and keep devoting myself to Jesus and His Gospel. If God wants something to happen, it’ll happen regardless of what is done to stop it. If He doesn’t want something to happen, no matter my amount of hard work, dedication, and tenacity, IT WON’T HAPPEN. I have to submit not just parts of my life, but all of it.

It’s not right for me to demand things be done by my timetable to my preferences. It’s idolatrous, and by my actions it’s saying that I should be God because I know how to do things better than He does.

I’m not God. I don’t want to be.

But I don’t want to be mad at God for being God either.

On God's Timetable

The Screwtape Letters, Ch. 13 (C.S. Lewis)

"And now for your blunders. On your awn showing you first of all allowed the patient to read a book he really enjoyed, because he enjoyed it and not in order to make clever remarks about it to his new friends. In the second place, you allowed him to walk down to the old mill and have tea there –a walk through country he really likes, and taken alone. In other words you allowed him two real positive Pleasures. Were you so ignorant as not to see the danger of this? The characteristic of Pains and Pleasures is that they are unmistakably real, and therefore, as far as they go, give the man who feels them a touchstone of reality. Thus if you had been trying to damn your man by the Romantic method –by making him a kind of Childe Harold or Werther submerged in self-pity for imaginary distresses –you would try to protect him at all costs from any real pain; because, of course, five minutes' genuine toothache would reveal the romantic sorrows for the nonsense they were and unmask your whole stratagem."

I started this blog intending to write about enduring and being patient. God had other plans. He wanted me to realize not the severity of my test, but the extent to which I had blown up the “troubles” that I have been “enduring.” This isn't so much testing as it is a greedy child, the prodigal son, wanting his entire inheritance at once. How much of my struggle is created by my own greed and impatience? How much of this “test of endurance” is really just me not being willing to slow down?

Long story short, I find myself in a season of life in which I have a lot of decisions to make. I have lots of choices in front of me. But even as I was sitting there whining and thinking about how I could write it down and make it come across like it's a really big deal, I'm guessing God kind of raised the eyebrow at me.

Let's examine my situation.

I'm living in the United States of America, where I have the right to believe whatever the heck I want to believe. If I were to hang a sign on my front door that said “I'm a Christian and I'm proud of it,” then the police wouldn't come and take me out of my house. On the contrary, if they did, I could sue them.

The last time I was hungry, I walked over to the dining hall and grabbed two slices of pizza and two glasses of Powerade. I didn't grab a cookie for dessert, but I could have if I wanted to. I listened to my iPod while I was walking down the sidewalk on what is (periodically) a sunny day.

My vision isn't exactly perfect, so I have a pair of glasses on my face right now that are covered by insurance. I have a vehicle of my own and there is gas in my tank.

Let's be real. I am a person defining trial right now who gets impatient when his soba noodles aren't cooked by the microwave fast enough. Whether or not God acts by my timetable isn't really His concern. He loves me. He's my dad. But He's also the sovereign God of the universe who isn't really as urgent about me getting some things as I am. He'll do all that He wishes to do through me...in HIS time. Not necessarily mine.

I was thinking about this and the story of Abraham came to mind. Not the usual way I go though, because normally I would be thinking about how he did his own thing with Hagar and ended up with Ishmael. I was thinking more about when he went over into Egypt.

Genesis 12:10-20

“Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land. When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife, “I know that you are a woman beautiful in appearance, and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me, but they will let you live. Say you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared for your sake.” When Abram Entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. And when the princes of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants, female servants, female donkeys, and camels.” But the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. SO Pharaoh called Abram and said, 'What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and go.' And Pharaoh gave men orders concerning him, and they sent him away with his wife and all that he had.”

What to notice here is that God had already promised Abraham (Abram at the time) that He was going to be a father of many nations. He'd already given him the promise of how things were going to be for him. But Abram got scared when he heard there was a famine and so he ran to Egypt. He found the closest thing that was the answer for his problem and went running to it instead of to God. Our existence is to bring glory to God. Now I'm not saying be unwise, but how awesome would it have been if everywhere was in famine except where Abram sat down? I mean yeah, he left with a lot of stuff from Pharaoh, but how much stuff would he have gotten if he was the only agricultural game in town? And his response when people asked him why his crops weren't dying would be? “My God is good and has promised good things for me.” He didn't take that opportunity to trust God though.

Even in his poor decision making though, God was still with him and still took care of him. Abraham basically had to pick between two blessings. The closer, immediately tangible blessing of Egypt or the promised provision and protection of God. He chose what he could get his hands on at the time.

I feel like I have that problem, too. I don't really want to condemn Abram and talk about how stupid a move that was and how obvious it was that God was giving him the chance to experience something amazing because I do this same thing every day. I decide that what is most immediately available must be what God wants for me, and so I jump. I'm impatient. And quickly God lets me know that I've done so. And shortly after He shows me that, He hits me with the same trial again. He is relentless in conforming me to the image of Christ, and if that means He has to hit me with the same stuff over and over again, He's got all the time in the world (haha, literally) to do it with. Some of the guys in my small group came up with this combination of scripture:

Ecclesiastes 3:14-15

"I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away."

Plus

Jeremiah 29:10-14

“For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.”

They just used 29:11 in Jeremiah, but I'm going to add the other verses in with it. God has an eternal plan for everything that cannot and will not be stopped. That includes our lives. It's arrogant to think that somehow we could do something that would dislodge or derail the plan of an all knowing, all powerful, ever-present, and eternal God. That plan that He has includes the plans that He has for us, plans for a future and a hope. Those plans cannot and will not be dislodged or derailed. Now does that mean that everything will run smoothly? Nope. Notice that before God tells them that He has a plan for them, He also tells them that they're going to have to wait until their time in Babylon is up. He is the one who drove them there. He is the one that has made them wait.

My gut reaction when I realized this was to say “that's not fair,” but then I remembered that fair would be me burning in hell for the sins I've committed, so I decided against arguing in favor of fairness.

God works tirelessly to conform us to the image of His son Jesus, like Romans 8 says. If I got everything I wanted when I wanted it, I wouldn't be being conformed to the image of Jesus. I would be conforming myself to the image of...well, myself.

1 Peter 1:6-9

"In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

I need to remember that my trials are minimal here, my blessings are many, and my impatience is great. God is a very good God who does send trial every once in a while in order to strengthen our faith, and He is faithful not to put more on me than I can bear. But if God loads me down with what I can bear and I generate more trials for myself through my own greed, indecision, and impatience, then I carry no guarantee that I will be able to bear those. My faith is to be constantly tested and I'm constantly being conformed to the image of Christ, but that is done on God's timetable—not mine.

Psalm 25

To You, Yahweh, I lift up my soul.

O my God, I trust in You;

Let me not be ashamed;

Let not my enemies triumph over me.

Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed;

Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.

Show me Your ways, Yahweh;

Teach me Your paths.

Lead me in Your truth and teach me,

For You are the God of my salvation;

On You I wait all the day.

Remember, Yahweh, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses,

For they are from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth,

nor my transgressions;

According to Your mercy remember me,

For Your goodness' sake, Yahweh.

Good and upright is Yahweh;

Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.

The humble He guides in justice,

and the humble He teaches His way.

All the paths of Yahweh are mercy and truth,

To such as kept His covenant and His testimonies.

For Your name's sake, Yahweh,

Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.

Who is the man that fears Yahweh?

Him shall He teach in the way He chooses.

He himself shall dwell in prosperity,

And his descendants shall inherit the earth.

The secret of Yahweh is with those who fear him,

And He will show them His covenant.

My eyes are ever toward Yahweh,

For He shall pluck my feet out of the net.

Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,

For I am desolate and afflicted.

The troubles of my heart have enlarged;

Bring me out of my distresses!

Look on my affliction and my pain,

And forgive all my sins.

Consider my enemies, for they are many;

And they hate me with cruel hatred.

Keep my soul, and deliver me;

Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.

Let integrity and uprightness preserve me,

For I wait for You.

Redeem Israel, O God,

Out of all their troubles!