"The Blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow to it!"
Its FOOTBALL SEASON! You never know where that pig-skinned ball is going to end up. But if you listened to the marching band and cheerleaders closer to the sidelines, it is obvious to bystanders who the winning team should be. Or if you attend a game in a different city, most of the crowd will cheer for the home team! Poor other team! But the flight miles that ball should get is off the wall if it is handled the right way. When it is handled especially well, one of the teams will win! Football game wins->National Championship->Trophy!
Our family historically has witnessed the multiple Heisman trophy awarded winnings of the football team of Ohio State University. Ohio State is known nationally as one of the Big Ten's strongest teams and we as Buckeyes are proud to declare it. But it has been the most amazing experiences whenever we have traveled out of state. Whenever the name Ohio State or Buckeyes is mentioned, they scratch their heads and say "who"? We were made to think that we were the best team in the country. Who would possibly do such a thing? The COACH! Logos and interesting consonants communicating TBDBITL....is not enough to let the rest of the country and the WORLD that we had the best football team.
"What made that team so great?", one would ask. You would NEVER know it by the way the "BEST and most popular coach of all time" treated his team. Coach Woody Hayes called them horrible names on and OFF the field. He worked them morning and night in practice. But he stated that he LOVED his boys in a later interview and that's why they played so well. It was kind of like over-parenting. Other big named schools had coaches like that as well and because of it, getting into a Big Ten school was extremely competitive. Why everyone thought they wanted to play for Coach Hayes....then we found out that more wanted to play for Coach Bo Schembechler of University of Michigan or Coach Jo Paterno of Penn State! FLYING Pigskins, I tell you!
What for? Who would take that 'abuse'? Who would want to be called horrific names especially after probably failing half of your exams in the previous days' classes? Well according to reports, kids got positions because they were good at their game. The rest was expected to come later under the tutelage of the COACH! They figured if the players were disciplined in football, it would probably crossover into other scholastic areas. So they let them play. They often got good jobs because they played for Coach Hayes. But whether or not they could weather a promotion after years of playing a good ballgame was a horse of a different color. The coach did his best while he had them and they LEARNED to perform well.
Much of the feminist and gender-specific communities disagree with the position that some evangelicals hold in what is entitled as submission. In fact, leaders of religious communities, many who practice submission principles are often accused of domestic violence issues. It is stated that women have reported male clergy making the most damaging statements. These statements reportedly are coming from the clergy telling women about their "lack of belief or faith in God" as a reason why they suffer violence. This report seemed to be a very ominous attack against well meaning men who are being good, polite leaders. Not all religious leaders got to their positions just because they knew enough people to pad their pockets. Some women have not taken the time to listen and as a result, have failed in their relationships. If you listen to some women, they will say "my daddy was the meanest man to my mommy" or "he was a drunk" or "he had mental problems". Interestingly enough, we never really knew what daddy was all about.
If you served in the military and had the privilege of going to war, you were told 'not to tell'. If you were the owner of a business, you learned 'not to share your success secrets'. If you knew someone did something wrong to you, you were told 'not to share your secrets!' Shh! My goodness! The competition to hold boundaries is phenomenal. Everything has be 'hush, hush'.
In more recent writings is research done on men who have survived domestic violence. .....Totally the opposite in dynamics and how men are treated before they determine that the female is 'guilty'. It is known to be much harder to prove that men suffer from abusive relationships than it is for women. In men, The Mayo Clinic cites twelve similar but different symptoms of abuse from women. They are known to be the following:
1. Calls you names, insults you or puts you down
2. Prevents you from going to work or school
3. Stops you from seeing family members or friends
4. Tries to control how you spend money, where you go or what you wear
5. Acts jealous or possessive or constantly accuses you of being unfaithful
6. Gets angry when drinking alcohol or using drugs
7. Threatens you with violence or a weapon
8. Hits, kicks, shoves, slaps, chokes or otherwise hurts you, your children
or your pets
9. Assaults you while you're sleeping, you've been drinking or you're not
paying attention to make up for a difference in strength
10. Forces you to have sex or engage in sexual acts against your will
11. Blames you for his or her violent behavior or tells you that you deserve it
12. Portrays the violence as mutual and consensual
Do we want to succeed and prosper? Do we want to have the best that life has to offer? Do we want to be in the center of God's will and receive God's Blessing? How nice it would be if people could get focused on what God has in store for them and others with whom they serve. The Blessing of the Lord maketh RICH! And He Adds NO sorrow to it! We do not have to suffer, compete or feel jealousy. God's love goes around for everyone. Jesus is MORE than enough and greater than all of our sin. When we surrender to God's will, God will give us what is needed. Competition becomes a simple game where we become the right person for the right purpose.God molds and shapes us into what we should be according to His will. Let God mold you today! Let your prayer be "Search me O God and see if there be any wicked way in me! Ps 139:23" Then you will have a better chance of winning.
