Wrong Way!
By Grant Gaines
John Rolfe from Sports Illustrated says it’s the most embarrassing moment in the history of professional sports. On October 25, 1964, NFL defensive end Jim Marshall and his Minnesota Vikings were locked in an intense struggle against the San Francisco 49ers. As the game wore on, the ball squirmed loose out of San Francisco’s quarterback’s grip and bounced right into the eagerly awaiting hands of Jim Marshall. And he was off to the races.
66 yards later, Marshall crossed the goal line and in an expression of jubilee, he threw the ball towards the stands as he began to celebrate. It wasn’t until Marshall noticed that his teammates weren’t wearing the same joyful smile as he was that he realized what had just happened-he ran the wrong way! Yep, you read that correctly, Jim Marshall ran 66 yards in the wrong direction and threw the ball out of the back of the end zone which resulted in two points being awarded to the 49ers. Yikes!
But before you begin to snicker at Jim for too long, I think if you look closely enough you just might see yourself in Jim’s shoes.
Maybe you don’t play in the NFL, but are there not times in your life when you’ve wandered off in the wrong direction? Of course you have! Whether it was making a bad decision in a relationship, choosing the wrong career, or literally taking the wrong turn on a road trip, we have all wandered off of our desired path.
Not only is it possible to go the wrong way in a physical sense, I believe it is entirely possible to go the wrong way in a spiritual sense-even in our prayer life. Not only do I believe this is possible, I actually believe this is quiet common, particularly in response to trials.
I may not know anything about you but if you’re anything like me, as soon as the floodwaters of trouble begin to rise in my life, an endless shout of SOS rises from my lips. As soon as troubles arise, I pray that they will leave. It just seems that trials and prayers for deliverance go together like peanut butter and chocolate.
And while all of this may be the natural, instinctive response to our troubles, Acts 4 offers a wrinkle to our typically prayer of deliverance that we should be aware of.
To give you some context of the story, Peter and John had just been released from an intensive trial for preaching the Gospel in Jerusalem and were even violently threatened not to mention the message of Christ any more (Acts 4:21). After being released from this verbal crossfire, “Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them” (Acts 4:23, NIV).
“When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God…” (Acts 4:24, NIV). See, there’s that pattern again-as soon as troubles arise, so do the prayers for a quick escape.
But wait, as you continue to read their prayer you don’t find any pleads for protection, deliverance, or even vengeance, but rather for boldness-“Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak Your Word with great boldness” (Acts 4:29, NIV).
That’s what separates our prayers from the prayers of the early followers of Christ. When we get into a jam, we just want to get out of them. Peter and John, on the other hand, didn’t want to just get out of the trial but see what they could get out of the trial.
Apparently this request pleased God because, “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly” (Acts 4:31, NIV).
Now I’m not saying that God doesn’t want you pray for deliverance from trials-that would negate some awesome promises like Psalms 34:7 (NIV), “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.” God wants to deliver you from your troubles, but there are some things He wants you to learn from the situation you’re in before He gets you out.
Often we, like Jim, run the wrong way when trials come. Rather than running into the trial and viewing it as an opportunity, we run in any direction we can to avoid the trial. But do you know how ships survive massive waves as they are navigating through the treacherous waters? They turn the ship’s bow (the front end) directly into the storm. Turn the boat to the right or to the left and the boat would be shattered to pieces by the driving winds. But if you point the bow into the storm, as rough as it may be, the boat will survive.
We would be wise to do the same-not run and hide from trials that are promised to come our way (John 16:33), but rather to run into them with the same opportunistic mindset as Peter and John.
Comments? Questions? Suggestions?
©Grant Gaines 2013
