Hedging

‘Tis the season. Well not THAT season. But ‘tis the season when dreams are fulfilled or dashed cruelly. Yup. Playoff Season. In the US that Season is professional football playoff season.

Most of us have dreams of our team (**cough cough** The Kansas City Chiefs **cough cough**) making a stellar run that was poo-poo-ed by all the experts. But for some folks this season is about dreams of winning…wait for it…a huge return on their bets. Regardless of what team.

I’ll admit I was honestly surprised when I decided to read an article on the bets some big-time-enough-to-get-an-article -published guy was making. Honestly, I didn’t understand much of anything he was talking about. I just don’t know what those groupings of words mean. I guess not a bad thing but still.

One thing I do understand is hedging your bets so you have some chance of winning. In other words, you don’t just bet that this team will beat that team. Noooooo. You need to spread your hard earned, but clearly not appreciated, money around. So you also bet that the wind will be blowing at 23.75 mph or whatever that might be in knots, at the 12th minute of the third quarter but only if the home team has the ball on the 50 yard line at third down and 4 to go. That apparently is hedging your bets.

How often do we do the same thing with our prayers? We know God CAN but we don’t really believe He WILL, so we concoct all sorts of reasons that we can understand as to why our prayers aren’t answered the way we want in our timing. Well, I wasn’t standing on my left foot, facing towards Jerusalem when I prayed that, so, yea, probably that’s why. Or it might be why.

The reality is we, and by that I mean me, don’t allow room for God’s timing or for His better plan. We want what we want, when we want it. Or we at least want to understand why not.

God is not just a bigger me. Assigning God, limiting God, to human like behaviors is at best inappropriate, short sighted, and just not truth. While Jesus may have taken on a human form and limited Himself to human abilities while He walked among us, be reminded that was a voluntary and temporary limitation.

So do I truly trust God? Am I really willing to release outcomes, answers to Him? Often, no. But even then He gently reminds me that I am His Beloved and while I see only dimly now, foggy and fuzzy all the way around, I do not need to hedge my prayers.

Holding the space between what is and what will be, between what I can know and what I could not begin to understand if I did know, is really hard. He continues to walk the path with me and reassure me of His love even when I’m a fussy mess.

Give me eyes to see, ears to hear, and a soft heart to receive, dear God.