Post from August 4, 2023

”👟 RSD 1193 ✅ Today’s Verse: “‘Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in His sight.’” — 1 Chronicles 19:13 (NIV)

Today (Friday) was technically my last day of summer—I have the weekend to go, then begin again on Monday, so today will be the last entry of the SummerVerse series as I go back and get ready for the babies (yes, they’re 16-18 year olds, but they’re my babies 🐣💜🤍). It’s serendipitous that today is also the 66th day of the SummerVerse series, and there are 66 books in the Bible. Hey, I like math. 😉 I’ll still be running every day, so here’s my periodic plug to remind everyone that every long distance goal (even non-running ones) is really made of smaller parts. I haven’t run many miles; I’ve run one mile many, many times. Here’s today’s reflection, reminding us to “‘Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly’” — 1 Chronicles 19:13 (KJV).

The Message translation (1 Chronicles 19:9-13): “The Ammonites marched out and spread out in battle formation at the city gate; the kings who had come as allies took up a position in the open fields. When Joab saw that he had two fronts to fight, before and behind, he took his pick of the best of Israel and deployed them to confront the Arameans. The rest of the army he put under the command of Abishai, his brother, and deployed them to deal with the Ammonites. Then he said, ‘If the Arameans are too much for me, you help me; and if the Ammonites prove too much for you, I’ll come and help you. Courage! We’ll fight might and main for our people and for the cities of our God. And God will do whatever He sees needs doing!’”

Do you have any “go-to” movie (or TV) quotes from your childhood/teen years that you still hold onto? You know, they make your laugh, or make you think, or inspire you for whatever reason?
From Nickelodeon’s “Rugrats,” “A baby’s gotta do what a baby’s gotta do.”
From “The Sandlot,” “You’re killing me, Smalls!”
From Disney’s “Heavyweights,” “Do it to it, Lars!”
From “Dirty Dancing,” “Nobody puts Baby in the corner!”
From “Top Gun,” “That’s a negative, Ghost Rider. This pattern is full.”
From “Clueless,” “Just your head—not the whole car!” “UGH, as IF!” “WhatEVER!” “And last, but not least, [I’d like to thank] the wonderful crew at McDonalds for spending hours making those Egg McMuffins, without which I might never be tardy.” Plus, Tai’s ahem EPIC insult to Cher (which I won’t repeat here).
From “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Seriously!” “You’re my person.”
From “Friends,” “We were on a BREAK!”
From “Grease,” “If you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.”
From “Mean Girls,” “She doesn’t even go here!” “Get in, loser, we’re going shopping.” “You go, Glenn Coco!”
From “Home Alone,” “Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal.”
Every James Bond movie, “Shaken, not stirred.”
From “Forrest Gump,” “Run, Forrest, run!” “My mama always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’”
From “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.”
From “The Muppet Movie,” “Someday we’ll find it, the rainbow connection: the lovers, the dreamers, and me.”
Because of our love for cinema, we all know that “the first rule of Fight Club is you don’t talk about Fight Club,” that saying “Beetlejuice” three times is a terrible idea, and “that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, and a princess, and a criminal.” And, my fellow ‘80s babies/‘90s kids know who loves orange soda, and what it means to throw dust into a campfire with the words, “Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story _____.” We all know that you get three wishes from a genie, and that you have to be careful what you wish for—sometimes “it’s just a bunch of hocus pocus” anyway. “E.T. phone home,” anyone? Some movie quotes are more meaningful with a little background. In “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” there is a scene where the Cratchits are mourning the loss of Tiny Tim, and Bob comforts the family with reassurance that “It’s all right,” adding, “Life is made up of meetings and partings. That is the way of it.” This quote isn’t in the novel, I believe, although something similar is in Dickens’s “Great Expectations,” but the quote from this “Christmas Carol” version hits differently when you consider that this was the first film that the Jim Henson Company (the people who do the muppets) made without Jim Henson (after his sudden passing); one of his friends took over for him as the voice of Kermit the Frog (Bob Cratchit) and voiced this line.

We learn from these on-screen stories different things about loving each other, standing together in friendship, and our charge to serve humanity. We learn from these stories that problems we encounter in life can be confronted with teamwork, courage, some imagination, and a little faith too. Hey, these movies and TV shows we saw as kids/teens were windows into the world, and a lot of them gave us stories of heroes who stepped up and friends who stuck together. They let us know that hard work and determination can take you far and that doing the right thing is always worth fighting for, even if it’s not the popular choice and the odds aren’t great. Some of the lessons from the movies and TV shows of my youth still stick with me. One of my favorites is from a movie (a ‘90s kids’ movie) called “3 Ninjas.” It’s a simple story: three boys spend every summer with their grandfather learning elements of karate and training to be ninjas (they are part Japanese, and their grandfather is a trained ninja). Most of their time is spent on discipline and character building, a lot of conditioning too, focusing on strength of mind, body, and character. One piece of advice Grandpa Tanaka repeats throughout the movie (that I still think of often) is this, “Never fight unless you’re sure you can win.”

Today’s verse takes place during the time of King David (vs Goliath, Solomon’s father—that guy). They were fighting battles, fighting wars, trying to keep the dream of the Nation of Israel alive. Enter the field commander, Joab, who realized (probably with an initial shock) that there were two armies against them. So, he employed the help of his brother, Abishai (someone he trusts), and this sweet moment between them in the crucible of battle is where today’s verse encouraging—well—courage originates. Friendship, faithfulness, and trustworthiness, too, in the verse preceding it. “We’ll help each other.” They encourage each other with the fact that, no matter what happens, God will take care of them—they just keep having to do their best for each other and for their people. They understood that it might not end great for them as individuals (“‘The Lord will do what is good in His sight’”), but they had faith in God’s plan. As you might’ve hoped, the battle had a good result for our two heroes. “Live to fight another day,” is an expression I hear periodically that certainly fits here. So, what does this have to do with us? It’s not like we’re flanking for each other in battle…are we?

“I’ve got your back.” “I’ve got your 6.” “I’ll cover you.” “I’ve got it here—go.” “I’ve got you.” These are all phrases we hear between partnered detectives, officers, firefighters, etc in those detective/first responder shows (really sports shows too), but they’re also phrases we share with friends. Do you look out for your friends? You know, friends, siblings, coworkers—those people. Do you look out for them? You know, send your friend an encouraging text for funny meme when you know they’re stressed. Grab your coworker a coffee or fountain drink alongside yours cause you know y’all’s are in for a long day. Tag your sibling in some post of ‘90s glory on social media because you know they’ll love it when they get off work, and they’ve been working a lot lately. You check on a friend who is going through a hard time, saying “I love you” in different ways: “I can bring you by something to eat,” “I’m here if you want to talk or vent,” “I know _____ is hard right now, but you’re doing awesomely.” Loving others through hard times—flanking for each other in battle. See, when we’re all doing our best, when we’re trying to do what is right, the world likes to make things interesting for us—you know, make it a challenge. In those times, it’s hard to keep doing right. We get tired. We get frustrated. Or, if things really aren’t going well—we get scared. It’s easier to “go with the flow,” do what all the cool kids are doing, or bet the pass line with indifference. We get into these traps, and our friends do too…so we have to look out for each other. Flank for one another in battle. If it’s your predicament, keep fighting the good fight. If you know you’re doing the right thing, keep going. If it isn’t your predicament, support your friend. If they’re doing the right thing, be there cheering them on, listening to them troubleshoot, offering counsel when they seek it, or, if you’re in it together: take up for them. Hey, that “Grease” quote actually works here. “If you can’t be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.”

So, all this business about fighting the good fight. What about Grandpa Tanaka’s advice, “Never fight unless you’re sure you can win?” There is something to be said about timing, and to get the right timing, that’s going to require guidance from above (you know—ask God). What if you’re trying to do the right thing, it really does feel like the right time to do it, but it’s not the popular thing and/or the odds aren’t great because you’re up against entities with better resources (e.g. “You can’t fight city hall”)? So, Grandpa Tanaka would say to step out, wouldn’t he? Well, here’s the thing: if he knew what we know, he wouldn’t, as long as we’re pretty sure of the timing. Here’s what we know: “‘The Lord will do what is good in His sight.’” Moreover, Romans 8:28 tells us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose,” and we know from Ephesians 2:10 that “we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We are meant for a purpose, and we’re meant to do good work. So, when life’s predicaments advance on us from the front and the back (like with Joab and Abishai in today’s story), we are to face them, to “fight might and main” to do good work for God’s Kingdom. Sometimes that means something big like standing against injustice (which can be as common as someone being put down, and you take up for them or as big as speaking out against an unjust policy), and sometimes it means something as small as telling the cashier they gave you too much change (which, hey—if you’re the cashier, and you’ll get in a lot of trouble if your till is off, it’s not small to you). What exactly are you fighting in the 2nd scenario? Temptation.

Back to the “never fight unless you’re sure you can win.” If we’re doing the right thing, if we’re doing our best to do what God wants us to do, God will use our efforts for His purpose. It’s hard sometimes because we don’t always get to see the result, but we know that God calls each of us to do things and that He has a plan for each of us. So, here’s the kicker: if we’re doing what God wants us to do, even if it doesn’t look like we’re going to win, we’ll win. This very well might be a “lose the battle, win the war” situation, but, when we’re working for God, we win because God will use our fight for the victory He envisions. We don’t have to see the end result, and we don’t have to know the details (I know—bummer, right? Don’t feel bad: I’m nosy too); we just have to trust God. It’s intimidating not to be able to see the way ahead (or, you can see, but there’s an army there blocking your way), but God goes before us AND watches our backs too. God is also beside us for every victory and through every hard fight. God flanks for us in battle…and He’s REALLY good at it. He tells us in so many ways that He’ll always be there for us, so, in the pursuit of doing good, in the pursuit of serving, being loving, being strong, being compassionate, being faithful, being trustworthy, being kind, being gentle, being humble, being tenacious, being determined, being generous, being selfless, being patient, sharing peace, spreading joy, and being encouraging: God tells us to “be strong, and…fight bravely.” Fight, from Google/Oxford, to “endeavor vigorously.” From the same source, endeavor, to “try hard to do or achieve something;” vigorous, “strong, healthy, and full of energy.” God encourages us to try hard and to try with strength and energy to do what He would like us to do. When we mess up, He wants us to ask for forgiveness and guidance, then try again. When we’re just scared or confused, God wants us to lean on Him for help. He’s always there, ready to love us and protect us along our way, helping us in ways we couldn’t imagine even if we tried. The result of the fight will be so worth the trouble. Philippians 4:19 tells us that “God will supply every need of [ours] according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” All we have to do is be willing to begin, to try, and to begin again, calling out to the Lord with both our gratitude and our need. The Lord Himself shows this sentiment in Numbers 6:24-26; He instructs Moses (and Aaron as well as the other priests) to use the words He gives them to bless the people. Here they are: “[May] the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” Blessed beyond measure by God’s infinite love shining on us, giving us light from within that makes us shiny in a different way, brighter than we could ever see. “And so, as Tiny Tim observed, ‘God bless us, every one!’””