March 31 - The 23 point comeback, the five loaves and the two fish...

Deuteronomy 16:1-17:20

Luke 9:7-27

Psalm 72:1-20

Proverbs 12:8-9

We are in the midst of March Madness, and my bracket still has a shot - so this is pretty timely.  I enjoy a good basketball game - and I've been privileged to have seen a few good ones.  One of the best ones was the college championship in Manila, in 1988.  Our school team was playing, and we had hopes.  And then the other team built a lead - a 20 point lead into the half, 23 with the first shot they took when play resumed.  We were worried, frustrated, discouraged...but we decided to stick around while others left.  Our team hit a three point shot, stole the ball, converted a three point play, and what was an 83-63 lead very quickly turned into an 85-85 tie.  And yes, we won the championship that year, and we were there to celebrate it because, whatever else we might have been thinking - this is hopeless, let's beat the traffic, let's get a bite to eat instead - we decided to stay.  It is still one of the best games I've ever seen.  A miracle, really.

Have you ever wondered about the crowd when Jesus worked the miracle of the loaves and fish?  How many of them left - some hungry, others remembering other things they needed to do?  How perhaps a lack of patience, a focus on the earthly instead of the heavenly that sat before them, deprived them of the opportunity to witness a miracle far greater than a 23 point comeback?  I mean, seriously - we're talking five loaves, two fish and five thousand fed with twelve baskets left over.  In the middle of nowhere, away from the town.  

When I think of the things I aspire to, this is one of them: that I learn to sit, patiently, at His feet, listening to His voice, recognizing it for what it is, without regard to whatever else the world might deem important.  And, although I continue to struggle with it, I pray to have the faith to know He will provide - in His time, and according to His purposes.  And when He does, I pray to recognize it for what it is - a miracle that far surpasses that 23-point comeback.