Life isn’t all about relaxation. It is also about taking care of the business of life and living. This includes work, cleaning, shopping, and even taking out the garbage. The problem for most is that with all the chaos on life it is easy to loose sense “who” one is and “what” one represents. It is as if the randomness of life wins out over the planning, the mess over the organization or even the accident over the measured choice. Life includes all kinds of things. It is in the midst of this uncertainty that God promises that there will be a time “in those days, yes, at that very time when I put life back together again for Judah and Jerusalem.” (Joel 3.1)
I’m not sure how others keep themselves organized. In many ways I am not successful even though I do not have to contend with the overwhelming attention sports heroes and political villains draw. Watching coverage of the crowds numbered in the thousands at Heathrow’s Terminal greet their team was bewildering. This is the team’s real reward for their hours and hours of practice in the cold and rain, days spent in the gym, and the pain suffered through in varying degrees of silence. This morning represented something more spontaneous than any reception by the queen or ticker-tape parade, more authentic than a formal gathering, and more encouraging than any medal. Yet it is not the business for which the players are signed up.
Sport is about practice, dedication, and determination. Life is about struggling to know one’s priorities, live one’s values, and nurturing relationships that grace our lives. Life is about the struggles and the victories. Life is about the heartache and the cries of joy. Life is about God reaching out to us regardless of our behavior, good or bad decisions, or behavior.
It’s easy to be lost. Today is an opportunity to live life full of God’s blessing. Whatever we carry, God will carry for us. Whatever we struggle with, God will struggle for us. Our business is His business.
