STUCK IN A RUT

Trust in the LORD with all your heart Proverbs 3:5a (NAS)

      Many family's have boys and many of those family's have a boy named Michael. One of those families is the Henderson's. On a normal day, Michael Henderson is full of energy running here and running there not because he can't sit still but because he loves to run but running isn't the only thing he loves. Michael also loves any type of sports.

     Some of his favorite sports include soccer where he plays as a halfback running all over the field, track and field, and American football where he loves being a wide receiver and is always running long to try and catch a pass. But lately he hasn't been loving much of anything, not even running.

     Like many sports fans, Michael has favorite teams form each of his favorite sports and when it comes to football his team is, well, he doesn't want to talk about it. Not only did his favorite football team not make it into the playoffs but it had the worst season it had ever had. As a result, Michael has just been moping around the house as if the whole world was coming to an end.

     Michael also has a mom, her name is Florence, and she's getting tired of seeing her son moping around the house. She's tired of telling him he has to get out of bed and he has to go to school and he has to do his school work and on and on. If it had only been a couple of days she would have had no problem but it has been over a month since the end of the regular season.

     Florence was also tired of his excuses for his moping around. “It's all the coaches fault, I can't manage my time right anymore, or, It's all the running backs fault I can't pick anything up, or it's the defenses fault I'm getting bad grades, or I'm too embarrassed to show my face.” and on and on went the excuses, always tied to his favorite team's poor performance.

     “Michael! I'm giving you an ultimatum.” Florence finally told him. “Either you quit moping around and start doing as you're told or I'm not going to allow you to join the track team this spring or the soccer team this summer.” When Michael heard that he about flipped out. “You can't do that!” He protested. “Not only can I,” his mother told him, “I'll also sign you up for ballet.”

     The thought of having to wear a tutu gave Michael the shivers and the next day he was out of bed bright and early, he cleaned his room, did his school work and joined the cross country ski team. “I'm glad you're back to normal.” his mom told him that night and he had to agree, it was great to be back to normal.

     Do you ever get stuck in a rut like Michael, one of moping around because someone or some group let you down? They didn't preform to your expectations? All too often we tie are selves too closely to people and leave God out of the picture and find ourselves being let down and in trouble with God.

     It's sort of like Isaiah said in Isaiah 31:1 - How terrible it will be for those people who go down to Egypt for help. They think horses will save them. They think their many chariots and strong horsemen will save them. But they don’t trust God, the Holy One of Israel, or ask the Lord for help.(NCV)

     One such man in the Bible who put his trust in men even though he new God's power was King Asa. We can read about him in 2 Chronicles 16. - In the thirty-sixth year of Asa's reign, King Baasha of Israel invaded Judah and fortified Ramah in order to prevent anyone from entering or leaving King Asa's territory in Judah. Asa responded by taking the silver and gold from the treasuries of the LORD's Temple and from the royal palace. He sent it to King Ben-hadad of Aram, who was ruling in Damascus, along with this message: "Let us renew the treaty that existed between your father and my father. See, I am sending you a gift of silver and gold. Break your treaty with King Baasha of Israel so that he will leave me alone." Ben-hadad agreed to King Asa's request and sent his armies to attack Israel. They conquered the towns of Ijon, Dan, Abel-beth-maacah, and all the store cities in Naphtali. As soon as Baasha of Israel heard what was happening, he abandoned his project of fortifying Ramah. Then King Asa called out all the men of Judah to carry away the building stones and timbers that Baasha had been using to fortify Ramah. Asa used these materials to fortify the towns of Geba and Mizpah. At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa and told him, "Because you have put your trust in the king of Aram instead of in the LORD your God, you missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram. Don't you remember what happened to the Ethiopians and Libyans and their vast army, with all of their chariots and horsemen? At that time you relied on the LORD, and he handed them all over to you. The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. What a fool you have been! From now on, you will be at war." (NLT)

     At the end of the chapter we read of the results of his trusting men to the very end - In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa developed a serious foot disease. Even when the disease became life threatening, he did not seek the LORD's help but sought help only from his physicians. So he died in the forty-first year of his reign. (NLT)

     According to Jeremiah 17:5 This is what the LORD says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the LORD. (NLT) Michael tied himself to his favorite team, his team let him down and he got pulled down with them. Now I don't think there is a problem with having a favorite team but we need to be careful not to become tied to them, we need to be tied to God or as the Psalmist wrote - Some trust in their war chariots and others in their horses, but we trust in the power of the Lord our God. Psalms 20:7 (TEV)

      Here's Something To Ponder

• Are you relying more on man or God?
• When people fail you – do they pull you down?