Lights and fools

"He chooses the foolish and the simple."
© Karen Kyle Ericson, all rights reserved.

My husband is a huge Broncos football fan.  His favorite gifts have a Broncos logo.  I'm just not into football that much.  I ask the annoying questions like, "Honey, don't the players know how to fall properly?  Why do those guys look like bullies?  They're huge."  He's very patient and mostly silent.  But then Tim Tebow came along, I got so excited to see a football player shining God's light.  Like David and Goliath, he stands strong.  He's my brother in the Lord.  

But Sunday night, my husband wasn't happy with the Broncos.  They'd lost 3 games, and they were losing then.  I wanted my husband to win.  I hate when things go bad for him.  I asked him if the game was live?  It was, so I told him that I'd pray for Tebow.  3 losses are discouraging for all of us as believers.  My heart went out to him, and my prayers up.  The camera was focussed on Tebow as I prayed for wings like eagles, for strength- I saw his spirits rise as I prayed (and probably lots of other Christians).  Everything changed,  they started winning.  I prayed for Tebow more, then the still small voice whispered- he's on a team.  He can't play alone.  So I prayed for all of them.  They won!   God blessed them.  

I didn't catch all that the broadcaster said, but this is what I remember, "They don't dwell in their fears.  They dwell in their hopes."  I wrote that down.  I want to dwell in my hopes too.

Proverbs 26

<sup>I may be the only one who does this, but one of my struggles is reading about characters in the Bible and thinking, "Wow!  Glad I'm not like that."  I've spent hours thinking about people who are irritating to me.  What a miserable waste of time.  These verses are about fools.  Warning: there's a zinger in the end.

1</sup> Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
   honor is not fitting for a fool.

³ A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
   and a rod for the backs of fools!
⁴ Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
   or you yourself will be just like him.
⁵ Answer a fool according to his folly,
   or he will be wise in his own eyes.
⁶ Sending a message by the hands of a fool
   is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison.
⁷ Like the useless legs of one who is lame
   is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
⁸ Like tying a stone in a sling
   is the giving of honor to a fool.
⁹ Like a thornbush in a drunkard’s hand
   is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds at random
   is one who hires a fool or any passer-by.
¹¹ As a dog returns to its vomit,
   so fools repeat their folly.
Shew!  I'm innocent, I would never...

¹² Do you see a person wise in their own eyes?
   There is more hope for a fool than for them.
Fail!  Now I really need to let go of judgmental thoughts.  So glad He chooses the simple and the foolish.

Psalm 14:1 The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."

I am so grateful for Christians who stand up and acknowledge who they are in such a wholesome way, like Tebow.  It's such a wonderful testimony to a hard, skeptical world.  And it's downright encouraging to those of us who are Christians.  Also, grateful He chooses the foolish and simple.  I pass!