Those old boxes in the garage reveal a great deal about what we treasure. It's not until they are opened up and examined do we actually discover what we really cling to in life that's very important. I was reminded of this over and over this past week while working in Moore, OK.
As I picked through the debris in the front yard of this home, I came across what was left of a baseball trophy. The broken bat and right leg were harsh reminders that some things don't turn out the way we dream of them. Someone cherished the trophy enough to save it. I remember as a young man that I held onto my own trophies like they were the holy grail. After I married my wife, those same trophies I clung to as a boy found there way into boxes in the garage. Today, they are in some town's landfill. But as I've aged and (hopefully) matured, I've gathered new trophies; all of which need to find their proper place in my life.
I think of the little 3rd grader who this trophy might have belonged to. Freckles, chili-bowl haircut, dreams of running out onto a major league field... are all part of the makeup of a little-leaguer. He probably learned a lesson a lot earlier in life than he should have about 'what to value in life' that fearful day the massive EF-5 tornado roared his home town. Whether he was literally clinging to the walls of his collapsing elementary school classroom closet or covered over by a protective father in the bathtub of his home - I would imagine the last thing on his mind was his little-league trophy.
It's in moments of loss, crisis, fear... where our faith is most needed. We cling to God in prayers of desperation that resonate in His ears as we are covered in the shadow of His wings. We can scream at the tops of our lungs pleading for the roaring storm around us to end, sometimes tragically our valuables (and maybe even our lives) are whisked away by a gust of providence, leaving us to only cling to the cross of Jesus. At the end of the day, the end of month's bills, the end of our lives - that's all we have - God's trophy - a cross emblematic of Christ's suffering and shame.
When I picked up that old trophy the words of George Bennard looped over and over through my mind:
So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it someday for a crown.
I do hope the owner of that trophy never, ever has to endure a storm of such magnitude, but more importantly, I hope that he, like you and me cling to the cross of Jesus. There we find meaning for our lives...
In Christ!
