Reviewing the Game

The wonderful world of technology benefits every component of life.  In sports, it allows officials to review a call and determine if they made the right decision.  Also, a team may watch the game at the following practice to examine where improvement is needed.  

In this season of life, I feel I am dusting off the videos of my life and watching, reviewing and examining each one.  I see where the call I made turned out to be wrong.  I discover improvements needed.  I struggle to find any good decision or positive memory.  I see opportunities missed where I needed to follow God.    

My heart cries out to the girl I see making all kinds of mistakes.  It is like the team watching their game and saying, "How could I have missed that play?"  Or, "I can't believe we let this team win!"  It is like the official watching the play and realizing the call he made was so obviously wrong.  It seemed the right choice at the time of play. 

Watching 'my videos' only brings the sadness to surface which I must surrender to Him.   I can not rewind and choose a different outcome.  I continually must focus on taking the lessons I learned, accepting the forgiveness from God and reach out to help others experiencing similar emotions.  If I do not focus on Him, I fall into a huge pit. 

"The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8)

"Praise be to God,
   who has not rejected my prayer
   or withheld his love from me!" (Psalm 66:20)

The cool thing is God reviewed these videos long before I took my first breath.  He knew each move Sheree would make, yet He continues to hold His hand out for me.  He remains present, loves me and comforts me in times of sadness.  He is my coach watching with me play by play and showing me where He was calling out to me.  He shows me that He never left my side, though I did not listen and chose my own play to run, He remained.  He did not resort back to the locker room or throw His hands in the air in disgust of the score or game. 

He speaks to me and lets me know the game is not done, the video not complete.  He knows the ending score and knows the enemy (opposing team) already received defeat.  I need not worry of the outcome; just shift my plays to those He calls out, not the ones I create on my own.  I must step up my defense and offense to reflect His Ways.  It is then I will feel peace and know that all things He works out for the good of those who love Him (see Romans 8:28).

God thank you for this day.  Thank You for the chance to review every detail, every play, every memory of my life so as to learn from each one and heal each wound.  May I take these lessons and not fall victim to a "pity party" but to use them as tools to become more like You.  Use me as a vessel to comfort those with the comfort I receive from You.  I love You.

Keep praying harder than the devil can work.
Sheree Craig