I feel crippled by the unknown. I ponder the next step in God’s plan in the maze of my troubled life. I try to make sense of who is really in charge and to decode their motives. I struggle with being suffocated by frustration and taunted by hopelessness. I deliberate over who owns the controls of my life. Is it me? Is it others? Is it God? Is it a combination of all three? In turbulent times it is essential to allow God’s Word to thunder.
The great coach, Vince Lombardi, of the Green Bay Packers, had an interesting way to approach pre-season training. At the first team meeting the legendary leader wasted no time getting to the point. He delivered one of history’s best one-liners. He held out a football to his players and said, “Gentlemen this is a football.” In those five, simple words, he took his team back to the basics.
Four simple words unfold the Bible in Genesis 1:1 serve as the platform of the basic tenants of Christianity.
“In the beginning God” (Genesis 1:1)
If I don’t believe that then my Christianity shakes on insecure footing. Every decision point on the path I trod becomes questionable. I become captive; chained by apprehension. Without that firm foundation I am tempted to throw in the proverbial towel, sulk under the closest tree, or hang myself out to dry in the nearest desert (not that I’m feeling dramatic or anything).
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8).
Ladies and Gentlemen, regardless of what you are going through today, let us return to the basics of Christianity. They provide stability in unsettled time, direction in the fog of your future, and answers to life’s pressing, perturbing questions.
James Poitras 