Enemies of God???

Okay, I'm gonna relate what happened to me a couple of days ago.

I was driving home from a nearby town. I had run across a very eloquent prayer on a plaque at a bookstore. It was so wonderful, that I purchased that plaque for my secret sister.

It read:

Lord,
please fulfill the promise by your Son
and
send the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds in wisdom
and
our hearts in compassion
and
lead us to know in experience who we are in truth.

So, on my drive home, I started praying, Lord, please expose my heart to the truth.

And then I started praying that the Lord would fully expose my heart to the truth about all this sports turmoil in our lives. And as I peeled back the layers, the Holy Spirit revealed to me what was at the root of all this turmoil in our lives surrounding sports. And to be honest, I did not like what I saw lying at the root of my heart.

I'm gonna make a long story short.

When we first got involved with sports, it was just me, the Mom, who took all our sons to the sports practices and sports games for t-ball, baseball, soccer and beginner's basketball. It wasn't until football started that my husband took an active role in participating in the responsibility of taking our sons to all these events.

So, I was tickled pink that he was participating...taking some of the pressure and load off of me. And when he started coaching, I was absolutely tickled pink.

And in the beginning, I enrolled our sons in all these sports because I was thinking that I would open the doorway for them. So, that when the time came and they decided to quit playing, at least they would be making an informed decision to quit playing. They would be educated enough in the sport to make an educated decision or a wise decision about quitting, if that be the case. Rather than having them just watching the sport from the sidelines and stating that they never wanted to play without giving it an effort.

That was what was in my heart, at the beginning.

But somewhere along the way, that reason changed. And I don't know exactly when it changed, but it did.

When my husband started coaching, I was tickled pink that he was participating in our son's activities. But somewhere along the way it changed to the fact that I was tickled pink to be a coaches wife.

And also, he would come home after 2 years of coaching, stating what a turmoil he was in about coaching and being exposed to all those worldly and fleshly competitions and angry parents and angry boys and yada, yada. My husband was basically asking me for permission to quit and I never granted him that permission. I didn't do that consciously, but now I know if I had just said, "Randy, God is directing you another way, please quit," he would have jumped right on that opportunity. But I never granted him that out. I just said, "Randy, you are the only Bible that a lot of these boys will have the opportunity to read." And also, "Randy, you will be letting down our boys if you quit."

So, even though I didn't do it intentionally, I was the driving force that kept our family involved in sports.

So, on my drive home, I asked God to reveal to me why I was wanting so bad for our boys and my husband to be in sports. Why was I driving and pushing them to stay in sports?

When I was in high school, it was all the boys that were enrolled in the advanced math classes, advanced science classes, all the advanced college prep classes with me and were also involved in sports, football, basketball, baseball that were very popular. I was NOT popular! I was the valedictorian of our class, voted most likely to succeed, but I was NOT popular! I was more of the geeky, nerdy type. I did not have a large group of friends, I was NOT a social butterfly! Here I was, as a Mom, pushing my family into sports because I was seeking popularity for them!

And then the Holy Spirit slapped me in the face with the following: Those who are liked, loved by the world, those who are popular with the world, are enemies of God!

I, as a mother, as a child of God, as a virtuous woman, was training my boys to be enemies of God!

The devil had beguiled his way into my life in such a manner that I had no idea that I was doing that!

So, when I got home, I got down on my hands and knees and begged God to please forgive me! I so desperately want my boys to be friends of God and to talk to Him everyday just like a friend!

And ladies and gentlemen, you will not believe the sense of relief, peace and joy that I have gotten from officially quitting our basketball commitment for this summer! I feel from God that He is saying, "I was wondering when you would realize what was going on in your lives!" For if we are in God's will, then we will not feel at turmoil nor trouble every time we commit to do it. It will give us a great sense of peace and joy!

Thank you, God, for Your daily revelations in my life! I love You with all my heart, my might, and my soul! Thank you, God, for simply loving me back!