Sides


Psa 119:116  Take my side as you promised; I'll live then for sure. Don't disappoint all 

	my grand hopes. 


	The captains have been chosen and they are getting ready to choose from the 

rest of the "athletes" lined up along the fence. From the wide range of sizes and 

abilities, who do think will be the first person chosen? Who do you think would be 

the one most sought after and the one both captains would want on their side? Most 

often we might be safe in saying that it would be the one who had proven himself to 

be the strongest and the best. As long as there were going to be "sides" involved in 

this game, there would be the greatest advantage gained in getting the most skilled 

and proven player. Also, if the best player is just way bigger and better than the 

others to the point of single-handedly defeating the opposing team, there might be 

something worked out where he could actually play on both sides. Maybe playing on 

offense for both sides, he could actually participate without making the game too 

lopsided. This is often the case when a Father is playing with his children. He really 

needs to be on both sides for it to be fair. 


	As this need for the best player on your side applies in the backyard ball 

game, it is also most important in the game of life, where there always seems to be a 

significant opponent. So, who do you think is the most sought after player, the one 

with the best reputation for helping out his team? For every aspect of life, the most 

desirable person will most certainly be God, as people in every walk of life, both holy 

and unholy, pray for his favor. Even for those not having much of a relationship with 

Him, He is the one to whom they'll pray when the situation becomes too difficult. 

There is just no other who can, without a doubt, overcome any difficulty by His 

mighty power. 


	When this becomes particularly interesting is when the difficulty involves 

another "team and their players". While you are sending up a prayer to God for 

victory, so they are surely doing the same thing. What is God's response to all of this 

and will He actually take up sides? I believe that in most cases it is very similar to the 

father in the game with his children. He is most surely playing a particular position 

for both sides and contributing in such a way that is both fair and for the best 

interests of all involved. He is completely committed to both sides equally and is 

doing all He can to insure their victory. Like the father with his children, though, the 

victory He is most desiring may not necessarily be the immediate one that is the 

competitive desire of each child. Fulfilling this request for one would mean having to 

fail the same request by the opposing team member. I believe His purpose and desire 

is that all His children know complete and total victory in their personal walk of 

righteousness and holiness. I believe this will prove to be a victory that is potentially 

won in every single event. 


	There are great dreams and hopes within each person approaching the Father 

with their request for victory. There is certainly a way to experience this victory, as 

God Himself will actually take our side. What is the position He will take, though, as 

victory as we see it may mean the defeat of another for whom He is also playing? I 

believe He is intent upon taking up a position within our very hearts where there is 

potential for complete victory in every moment that includes Him. Those dreams and 

hopes of ours will find their ultimate resolution as they are completed in ways that 
we may not ever anticipate. God has a way of working through our hearts just as He 

is in the hearts of all involved, and bringing about a victory that will actually be His 

and ultimately ours. He will definitely complete the work He's begun in us to the 

exclusion of no one else, and fulfill the hopes and passions of each one of us in a way 

we may never have dreamed of. Though our immediate desire may be the visible 

outward evidence of the workings of victory, the position He has taken is in the heart, 

and as He is allowed to actually operate in this position, He is given place to be 

completely on our "side", insuring our total victory. 


	We have chosen the Strongest and the Best. He has stepped from the line of 

possibilities and taken His position on our side and in our hearts. He will not 

disappoint in the least, but is ready and able to ensure us a victorious life. As He is 

diligent to operate in His position, so we must be diligent to operate in ours. In 

honoring and worshiping Him in every moment of our lives, we are keeping Him in 

the position of our most valued and required member. It is He that will do the work. 

It is He that will bring total victory way beyond we could ask or think, dream or hope 

for. 



Phi 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good 

	pleasure. 


5/25/04