GOD & football

so, i'm facilitating/participating in a pretty intense, indepth beth moore bible study called "believing GOD".  obviously, its focus is believing GOD.  we're only a couple of weeks in, but my mind & heart have been stirred as i ponder what i can believe GOD for...

in the media recently, a certain tim tebow is getting a ridiculous amount of press because #1 - he has always professed & lives out his seemingly unwavering faith in Jesus Christ & #2 - his presumed semi-pathetic broncos have been winning under his quarter-back leadership.  many have made statements & even arguments that imply (or flat out insist) that GOD cares more about the broncos because of tebow...that GOD is "making" them win.  so the question arises within me:  "does GOD even care about football?"  now i love football - but that's not why this question interests me so.  it stirs me because if GOD doesn't care about football, then does HE care about music or running or any other detail in my life that i care about?  and if HE does care about football, is HE really "picking" sides because of tebow?  and what happens when the broncos lose?  did GOD let them down?  and what about all the other followers of Christ who pursue victory in their lives yet the win eludes them?

and then i throw into the mix something really important like cancer or war or poverty.  if i truly believe that GOD can heal & pray accordingly but healing doesn't happen, how do i process that compared to GOD granting a win to a football team?  this challenges my faith!  but thankfully i am learning already in this study that there is no change or growth in faith that is unchallenged. 

so what have i come up with?  where do i find myself in this faith journey?  well i think i have 2 answers...or maybe it's just 1 with 2 parts.  1st - everything that GOD does is for HIS glory.  EVERYTHING!  period.  this might be healing, but it might mean the loss of a saint so that many will glorify HIM through that lost life.  and maybe it means that a football player who sincerely, whole-heartedly loves GOD is blessed with victory - beyond human understanding - so that many will see Jesus & glorify His FATHER in heaven. 

and #2 (or the 2nd part) is Ps. 115.3 which reminds us that "our GOD is in heaven & does whatever HE pleases."  this may seem harsh or even have nothing to do with the first point of HIS glory, but i actually think it is one & the same.  in david platt's book radical he talks about this same idea:  "GOD is the center of the universe, and everything HE does ultimately revolves around HIM."  this sounds like GOD is self-centered, but again platt poses:  "whom else would we have HIM exalt?  at the very moment GOD exalted someone or something else, HE would no longer be the great GOD worthy of all glory in the universe, which HE is."

so then, how do i believe?  what do i pray for if GOD is doing "whatever HE pleases" anyway?  well, i think it comes down to relationship.  i need to read & study the word & spend quality time with GOD everyday...i need to know HIM.  then the things that i pray for & believe HIM for are the things that please HIM...the things that will bring HIM glory.

so maybe GOD knows that tim tebow will turn all glory upward & will make HIS name famous in all the world...thus GOD is glorified - even through football. 

a quick note on my birthday...

my younger self would have never believed that i could (or would want to) run 3 miles on my 41st birthday...but now, my 41 year old self can't wait to find out what else i can do.