Missing It

I'm over at the Internet Cafe today, talking about similarities between me and my kids - and between our Heavenly Father and us. Hope you'll stop by and find out how they're Just Like Me. 

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,

but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV

A few weeks ago, my family entered, for the first time, the wild and wonderful world of AYSO soccer. Several people told us our son was very good at it (from observing him at recess), so we decided to sign him up. So far, he's enjoying it. (and he looks AWFUL cute in his uniform. Don't you think?)

This past Saturday, we had our first away game, maybe 15 minutes from our home. I did a mapquest and then knew just where to go - simple directions, really. So I left the driving directions at home and hopped in the car with the family.  We gave ourselves about twice as much time to get there as we needed - just in case, you know?

I mean, how hard could it be to find a bunch of soccer fields? It's not like they're small. We were on field nine, so there had to be AT LEAST that many, right? Not something you could miss.

And we turned the corner, just beyond where I thought the field was supposed to be, and we saw soccer fields. See? I didn't need the map. We all got out of the car and started heading toward them.

"Excuse me. Where is field nine?" I asked the gentleman standing by a group of young girls in soccer jerseys.

"These soccer fields are lettered. You're at the wrong place."

Long story short, after talking to three different people, we were told the fields WE were looking for were around the corner and across the street. "You can't miss it," one person said.

But we did - and almost missed it once more when we went back with the more specific directions. The fields, it ends up, were a few hundred yards back from the road. And the sign? NOT huge by any stretch of the imagination.

How could anyone say "you can't miss it," we wondered, when the only indication of its existence was an inobtrusive sign? They must have been familiar with the area.

And then I was reminded of Isaiah 53. Why, you ask?

Because I wonder the same thing myself just about every time I read that chapter.

How could anyone read about the suffering servant and NOT see that it referred to Jesus? How could they miss it?

And then I remember that I did the same thing. You see, the answer is simple. If they aren't familiar with the area, i.e. Jesus, no matter how many times they drive past the passage, they won't see Him.

Most of you know I was raised Jewish, and didn't come to Christ until I was in my 30s. I had read Isaiah 53 before I accepted Christ (granted, not many times, but I had), but it didn't have any significance to me. It was only AFTER  I learned about Jesus in the New Testament that this amazing prophecy became clear to me. Along with so many other OT passages that point to my Savior.

We wonder sometimes why folks don't "get" what Jesus is saying: what Christianity is about. How can they miss God's work in nature? In our lives? In world events?

Maybe it's because they don't know about Him - really know. And maybe we need to be the ones to share, so they can stop "missing it."

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Do you sometimes get frustrated when people don't see and/or acknowledge the Lord in places you so clearly see Him? How can you make those  "God things" clearer to others? Do they need to know Him? Know Him better? Is it easier for you to understand some of the evil in the world when you look at it from this perspective/ What can we do about it?


Comment below, and/ or stop by Living by Grace and we can chat a bit!




Traveling Rough Roads With God's Strength