Hey!! I hope you enjoy this post and I would actually like some feedback or revelation on this which you may get, my e-mail address is: ryanodendaal@gmail.com – I am yet to be a father myself but am just enjoying growing as a son for now :-)
I was at gym yesterday morning just rocking out on a treadmill and to my left were the squash courts. I often notice fathers and their sons playing squash and it always intrigues me - I have a real heart for family - and seeing fathers and sons sharing each other’s space are quite unique nowadays!!
Anyway, so there was a father and son having a great time playing squash but I noticed the son wasn’t quite the strongest player and returned quite weak shots, yet it didn’t seem to throw the game off or anything. Big ups to the father for his patience and love on display!!
After some time, the father and son swapped racquets and all of a sudden the son’s game improved...huh!! Cause now the dad was playing with the son’s original racquet but his game didn’t all of a sudden drop...
Something was up here and I felt God speak some simple truths to me:
1. “Opponents playing with each other” – usually a sporting activity has a competitive aspect to it, one wins and the other looses or maybe even a draw. In this case the pair would be said to be playing against each other, yet I felt and saw how they were playing ‘with’ each other. Obviously now, the father had way more skill and know-how of this game and he was teaching his son as they were going along. Yes they were playing against each other...but where else would you enter an environment where a game was taking place and your ‘opponent’ stopped to teach, motivate and encourage you, especially if a result is expected at the end?
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger by the way you treat them. Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction that comes from the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
I think somewhere in the back of my mind, I was expecting the father to get upset and frustrated with his son – yet this was never the case. The two of them just played on and the dad’s body language never gave any hint of anything but love and honour. I was reminded of the above scripture and it spoke to me of how a father just by being gentle and kind can draw such amazingness out of his children.
2. “The Father is always routing for us to win” – wow, Daddy was showing me how He is always routing for you and I. When we get onto that court with Him, He is our biggest encourager and He celebrates us always!! It doesn’t matter what the ‘court’ platform is in your personal scenario...Father God is always routing for you and He loves to see you and I win!!
As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever? (Hebrews 12:7-9)
God was reminding me that in our childish rebellion, sometimes we want to retaliate – ‘throwing our toys out of the cot’ and just getting plain angry that we can’t do whatever it is that is before us. That son could have given up, thrown down his racquet, hung his head and thrown a tantrum!! But you know what...there was a relationship between the two. A relationship that is built on trust, grounded in vulnerability – one of loving commitment. Man, I wish you could see this; I was actually quite blown away. I think the truest or simplest definition of a son would be one that always allows the Father’s discipline and then within that relationship everything is dealt with – fears, faults, failures, triumphs, victories...you name it.
Lastly, the issue of how when the father and son exchanged racquets all of a sudden the son’s game improved. Yoh...how we long to mimic our dads. As a son growing up you look up towards your father and want to be a man just like him – I am reminded of those images of the father shaving and the son looking at the father with great intrigue or maybe a young preschooler wearing a collared shirt and tie to school on one of those ‘what do you want to be one day when you grew up’ vibes...all with a longing to grow up like dad.
So what was the deal with the racquet exchange, well I am not to clear on that but the simplest imagery to me was that the father was passing onto the son, his (the father’s) tools and somehow the son was able to do better...to go further.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (Romans 8:28)
So, whatever your idea is of a father or even God our Father – know that Pappa God is a God of love of grace and mercy – One that is always routing for us and preparing great victories for the obstacles hindering you and I.
His goodness knows no bounds and His heart for you and I is massive. He loves you with a great and eternal love – a love which will never run dry, die out, become flat, cold or dead but His love is fiery and hot. It motivates and causes us to achieve great victories!!
God loves you and just as this simple father and son squash story was unpacked to me, so the Father is keen to reveal Himself to you in ordinary ways. Yes your hurts and pains are real but dare to believe that He is also real and He is alive and wants to encounter you with His presence – it’s in that presence that wholeness comes!!
Awesome, till the next post...love you guys!!
Ryan
It’s been said, and I believe there is only one direction in the Kingdom of God and that direction is DOWN...you gotta go low, hideaway with God if you (wanna go up)...no. I rate we’re pretty much called to stay down there, on our knees and fight the good fight!! Jesus demonstrated leadership by serving...serving...serving. We cannot get away from it :-) Amen...and much joy :-)
I want to illustrate two analogies and somma gooi a scripture at you as well...lets see how this goes and how it all pans out. I learnt a brilliant lesson from TD Jakes at the Global Leadership Summit 2010 – you speak your heart and you trust, pray and believe that Holy Spirit ignites it in the hearts of your audience...yay...its so easy :-) shot Jesus!!
Phillipians 2:6-11 (Today’s English Version)
He always had the nature of God, but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God. Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant. He became like a human being and appeared in human likeness. He was humbles and walked the path of obedience all the way to death – his death on a cross. For this reason God raised him to the highest place above and gave him the name that is greater than any other name. And so, in honour of the name of Jesus all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below will fall on their knees, and will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
I felt Holy Spirit invoke my heart some weeks ago to blog around this scripture and it has become so powerful to me of late and now when I typed it out, it was look w-o-o-o-o-w again.
But the illustration that came from this was quite a simple one and so I trust by God’s grace I will stick to the plan – cause this passage is jam packed.
Check out that last sentence in bold. Have you ever wondered why believers sometimes go on their knees or rather why you don’t? Cause we can replay the scripture over and over in our heads ‘every knee shall bow and every tongue shall proclaim...’ and be like BINGO...we gotta do it!!
Or is there a ‘deeper’ meaning? Like if you had never heard of Jesus or seen church etc. before and one day you stumble across and auditorium of people with hands lifted up, another speaking from a book in hand and other on their knees speaking out and bowing down...in all respects, seeing this for the very first time you might be totally freaked...
But praise God for His Holy Spirit who reveals these things. Our lives spent in Jesus are called to be lives of supernatural power and embrace. Love and honour. God and well totally just God...
So I felt it like this: we fall to our knees, because Jesus is revealed to us as God, by the Father and through His Holy Spirit. Just like when Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was and Peter answered he is the messiah and Jesus was like yoh...the Father has revealed this to you.
So when we stand or sit there and just bask in his presence and allow his glory to consume us, speak to God and ask that he might be revealed to you, more and more each time. Go on your knees and just proclaim him, the name of Jesus...that he truly is your salvation, healer, deliverer...friend :-) and when you on your knees, read the first few passages (verses 6 – 9), and allow Him to come and stir up your heart afresh...
Now for some fun and such...
Analogy number one
I spoke about this with some friends last night and one of the girls mentioned it to be quite good. I was like yes and amen, it’s from Holy Spirit cause my made up analogies suck ;-p
Imagine you are in a car driving down a road with like traffic lights. Now naturally you kinda wish and pray for all green lights to make your journey go faster...right, cool.
But on that odd occasion, you want a red light...cause you want to take a bite from your Big Mac, or change the cd or reply to an sms (text message) [or twitter or facebook or msn or mxit or bbm or ...].
Sometimes I believe God wants to give us a red light, a pause break to just kinda say “Hey kid, I’m over here”. It’s in times like these that God desires to re-energise us, to draw us in and down low, it’s a time spent with only you and Him. It’s intimate and personal and yup...so never neglect to sometimes turn down yet another event request or don’t feel too bummed when something you were planning on doing falls through – it might be God giving you a red light...and it’s not that he’s being a party pooper...without Him...there would be no party anyways...BOOM :-)
Analogy number two
Weddings...weddings...weddings. YAY!! I have come to grow very fond of weddings in the past year. I had one in April and then December 2010. Two in January 2011, and one each in February and March = 6 in less than one year...PRAISE GOD!! The word marriage is kinda like (Ryan’s made up) Hebrew for ‘THE GRACE OF JESUS CHRIST IN BRINGING TOGETHER A MAN AND WOMAN.’ Ha ha...but so true.
Those of you who enjoy hanging around me know I enjoy times of soaking in God’s presence. A good way to soak is to lie down in your room or at church whilst being ministered to by worship music and now an alternative to this is to attend a wedding...Jesus loves weddings and it’s really all about God isn’t it...totals, He is the alpha and the omega!!
And so lying on my bed in a time of soaking earlier I saw how a bride would walk down the isle with her father at her side. But I also saw how she would get out of the car, with all the guests waiting inside and walk to the door (alone) and wait for her father to come alongside her and then lock arms (or hands...not sure how its really done).
This was significant to me cause it shows how us, believers, the ecclesia (church)...His bride are not able to enter into the wedding and the feast to come if we do not have the father by our side. We can do everything on our own to get to the wedding, but to take that first step into the wedding ceremony is not something we can ever do alone...we need him, we need Christ!!
And so with that all, I great thee beloved...eish...and wish you a splendid 2011!! God is ready to rock out with you this year like never before. Embrace him, embrace LOVE!!
Yours in this awesome amazing journey of releasing heaven on earth...reezy
So what was the deal with the racquet exchange, well I am not to clear on that but the simplest imagery to me was that the father was passing onto the son, his (the father’s) tools and somehow the son was able to do better...to go further.