Monday, November 28, 2022

November 28, 2022

King Richard. What a great movie and story! Through background conversations with his daughters, you come to understand that Richard’s childhood was anything but a storybook. And yet, Richard was determined to create better circumstances for his girls. I love that! It affirms yet again that our choices can change our life’s trajectory! 

During the weekend service, we learned about three possible choices when faced with evil. 

The first is to return evil for evil. We saw Richard yield to this temptation when he confronted the gang members in the movie and then decided that was not the example he wanted to give his family.

Another choice is to become a victim. It was obvious by Richard’s persistence and determination that being a victim was not an option!

The third choice is to battle evil by doing good. This is where King Richard landed. He got busy doing good—for his girls and for his family. I loved his 78-page plan for Venus and Serena. I have great admiration for how he seemed to be able to implement it without any apparent envy or jealousy on the part of the other girls. Those girls were obviously high achievers in their own right in other areas, but the focus (at least in the movie) was on the tennis players. 

I imagine the effort must have been exhausting for both Richard and his wife, as well as for Serena and Venus. Having “average” children without a 78-page plan is exhausting! At times, it probably seemed easier to give up than to continue. 

Our world is challenging. We have immense pressure from many things, pulling at both us and our families. But we get to choose, and choose we must. It requires lots of energy, willpower, and effort. Following our devotion to God, it is our most important job. 

Galatians 6 has many verses which we can apply to our lives.

Galatians 6:2-3
2 Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. 3 If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important (emphasis added).

Galatians 6:7-10
7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. 10 Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith (emphasis added).

Several examples of these verses could be seen being lived out in King Richard. He and his wife shared each other’s burdens, but they were not ashamed to ask for help from others. They knew that eventually they would reap what they had sown with their girls. They knew their sacrifices would be worth the effort. As tiring as it must have been, Richard never grew tired of helping his girls achieve their full potential, and they all reaped a great blessing.

So how can you receive this kind of blessing in your life? By seeking peace and pursuing it and doing good to everyone—especially those within our family of faith.

Questions: 

Have you made the most important things in your life the most important? 

Next Steps: 

On one side of a piece of paper list the things most important to you, in the order of their importance. Across from that, list the amount of time you spend on each of those things. Figure out how you can bring those things into better alignment, then do it! Share the list with your Group or a trusted friend and ask them to hold you accountable for making first things first.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for ordering my life. Help me to listen to your word and apply it to my life. Help me to embrace the roles you have given me, and help me find the will and guidance to invest in them. Give me the energy and the courage to put first things first. This is not a mystery, nor is it difficult to figure out. Help me to wait for your blessing, which you have promised, at just the right time. Amen.