If you don't know me right now and you're reading this blog — you're probably thinking I'm a complete wacko, if you do know me, you already know I'm a complete wacko — but hang on because I promise I'm getting somewhere.
This picture of Coach Bombay — who was apparently worshipping right in front me (weird, younger, look-a-like, who pulls the same victory moves of the fist pump, get itttt sir.) I don't think was completely random. The Lord is a personal God, so personal that of course He'd use one of my favorite childhood movies to teach me something awesome…why not? 🙂
Days before that worship service, in fact the entire week, I was battling the lies of the enemy constantly — him telling me I'm worthless all day long. SNAP! Each day I was waking up feeling no worth and had been losing sight of who I am in Christ. I began believing that lie — that the Lord doesn't have real purpose for my life. The entire day before that worship gathering I had been crying out to the Lord, begging Him to allow me to hear something from Him.
And so here I am in the middle of worship – reminded of the Mighty Ducks — a story of a lawyer, who after being charged with drunk driving has been court ordered to coach the worst team in the entire peewee league as part of his community service. Bombay hates kids and hates hockey. The hockey team is barely a hockey team. Goldberg, the Ducks’ goalie, is afraid of the puck –I mean the peewee team is just a mess, not even worth playing. They had never won a game, nor come even close to winning. Bombay wasn’t made for coaching, and this team wasn’t made for hockey. However, Bombay has a change of heart and begins to see the potential for these kids as hockey players. He begins to coach and coach well. Suddenly, the team has another voice to listen to – the voice of a crowd telling them everything they’re not is drowned out by the voice of their coach telling them everything they are. They choose to tune into the voice of their coach and the Mighty Ducks become peewee champions.
I’m so quickly reminded of how that’s what the Lord does with us — we’re just barely skating around like peewee messes – and then we hear His voice. Even if the world is screaming out everything I’m not, and the things I’m never going to be, the Lord is right there telling me who I am in Him. And when it feels like the world is too loud, and that’s all I can hear, the Lord is quick to tell me whose voice I’m listening for. I hear Him saying, “You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in My book” (Psalm 139:15-16). And my favorite is in Psalm 138:8, “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.” I wish I could sit next to you right now as you read this verse because it seriously FILLS – MY- HEART- UP! The LORD WILL fulfill His purpose for me because HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOREVER! Not because MY steadfast love endures – but because HIS love towards you and me is CONSTANT, NEVER CHANGING. And so when I read that verse and I’m feeling like the COMPLETE PITS INSIDE – HOPE IS RENEWED – because the Lord has not changed, not His plan, not His love, not how He sees me — NOTHING has changed. The world can change it’s mind on what I am worth – the LORD will not – He still wants me in His story. He still wants me on His team; no matter how many times I make His team look like a complete joke. He still wants me. Now that just pumps me up..
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