FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

Mordecai sent this reply to Esther. “Don’t think for a moment that because you’re in the palace you will escape when all other Jews are killed.  If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance and relief for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die.  Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?”  Esther 4:13-14  NLT

Have you ever been taught faith lessons from your children?  Boy I have.  Has your faith ever been inspired by your children?  Boy mine has.  When you see your two teenage daughters lifting their hands unabashedly in worship during a time I was still intimidated to lift holy hands, man that makes your spirit soar to see their courage.  To stand in the corner of a hospital room as your daughter and son-in-law pray over their son when he was hospitalized as a baby, that weighs heavy on your soul.  Then to watch your grown son give God all the glory on a national platform, you just kinda want to say, “I wanna live like that!”  All three of my children inspire me in my faith.  All three walk with the Lord.  Nikki and Magen live God fearing lives in their respective private sectors.  Sometimes I feel sorry for Landry.  It seems his professional life is always lived out and on display for thousands even millions now to witness.  God has given my two daughters a private platform to walk their Christian life, and I don’t want to publicly display their various trials and situations they go through each and every day.  Just suffice it to say, what their brother walks through with God publicly, they have each walked a separate faith journey privately.  Do I sound like a proud momma?  I guess I am.  I prefer to say I am a humble momma just learning from the faith of her children.  Books have been written about the faith of our fathers.  I should probably write a book about the faith of our children.  Alas, I chase rabbits.

Now, to get to the point of this post.  My faith lesson I learned from my son this Sunday, BE PREPARED.  I unexpectedly sat on my couch Sunday and watched Landry go in for the injured Mike Vick.  Nope, for any who might ask, Kevin and I weren’t at the game.  We weren’t prepared for that moment in a game when your son exchanges his Pittsburgh Steeler baseball hat for his Pittsburgh Steeler football helmet.  My son was prepared though.  When called upon, he was ready.  He had taken the snaps mentally in his mind for two years now.  For such a time as this…  For this moment in time…  For this play in the game, he snapped his chin strap and took over the huddle.  And more importantly, he did not hesitate to give God the glory that He is due.

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.”  2 Timothy 4:2

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have, but do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”  1 Peter 3:15-16

Landry’s football life has been one of highs and lows, valleys and mountaintops, twists and turns, straight paths and forks in the road.  My walk of faith has been one of highs and lows, valleys and mountaintops, twists and turns, straight paths and forks in the road.  Landry still doesn’t know how the rest of the season will pan out, shoot at this moment none of us are sure he will start Sunday at Kansas City.  God may miraculously heal Ben’s knee, but for those few quarters one Sunday afternoon, Landry was prepared when he was called upon in the game.  God began preparing Landry to be ready in 2009 when he filled in for an injured Sam Bradford at Texas Stadium in front of thousands of spectators.  Every play in Oklahoma football games, even Artesia Bulldog football games, both good and bad, touchdown passes and interceptions had prepared Landry for the third quarter of the Arizona Cardinal football game.

Am I prepared in season and out of season to give an answer for my faith?  Do I see every trial and situation I find myself in as a platform God will one day use to encourage and edify other believers?  I am about to head to Ethiopia.  I want to be ready at all times whether walking along the rocky paths or feeding the hungry to always speak, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

For such a time as this…  For such a time as this, God had Landry Jones’ and Michel Vick’s life intersect so that they could both glean from the other’s life experiences.  Who has God sent to intersect my life so that I could be a picture of Christ to?  Am I ready?  Am I prepared to give an answer for my faith?

One afternoon Jesus asked His disciples to give an answer for their faith.  “But what about you?” he asked.  “Who do you say I am?” Peter was ready with an answer for his faith; it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit.  “Though art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

We will all be ready if we allow God to reveal and to fill us with His Spirit.

Who do I say that Jesus is?  He is the God who makes little boys dreams come true.  He is the paraclete who walks beside us as we journey down this road called life.  HE IS THE SAVIOR WHO CARRIES US WHEN THE JOURNEY BECOMES TOO ROUGH.  AND HE IS THE KING WHO IS PREPARING HIS KINGDOM FOR ALL WHO CALL ON HIS NAME!!!