Chapel Service

 

Special Championship Edition

 

Phoenix Int’l Raceway

November 13, 2015

 

“Tale of Three Bears”

 

www.BeyondCheckeredFlags.com

 

Bob Butcher

 

An Our Daily Bread daily devotional by David Roper reminded me of an annual trip my buddies and I took every year deep into the wilds of Canada near Hudson Bay where we never saw another human for the week or two we were there. George, Greg, Gene, and I would load up our 4 by 4’s and head out around Memorial day time of year.

Fishing was incredible! We set a standard of only keeping or recording Northern Pike and Muskie above 33 inches and, of course, maybe no where near as huge, but our personal favorite for eating: the Walleye Pike which we ate something like three meals a day while we were there!

Okay, I got off on a tangent of wonderful memories from my 20’s, but another experience up there (where we never could find any name for the place so we called it “Glacier Lake” because it was so freezing cold) were the gigantic bears! I remember walking out to fish from the shore one early morning with the sun just up when I came upon a fresh bear track that made my blood run cold it was so big. I slowly backed up back to camp and got my buddies to show them. After that day we were far more careful.

One evening, we saw two male bears boxing each other and watched intently as it was hilarious. At the beginning it began over a young female watching them, but soon it was just them as she had left …sort of disgusted I think. We laughed so hard we almost cried tears.

Thus, the conflict at this point was not about the female bear but about being the toughest bear. Typical boys! However, how many times do we get into scuffles over something (like a move on track by another driver that we perceive was on purpose) but in the end it really gets down to the guy thing of pride or ego…or you take offense because they didn’t do it MY way?

Most fights aren’t about policy and principle, or about right and wrong. They’re almost always about pride.

The wise man of Proverbs specifically “swings his axe at the root of the problem” when he writes: “Pride leads to conflict” Proverbs 13:10 (GBB).

“Pride ( or the contempt for the opinion of others) leads to strife, conflict, discord, and ultimately a fist fight; but men and women who listen to wise counsel or considers either grace for the other person; or waits for later to seek the real truth of the matter (like a video replay in our race world) show they are smart beyond their years.”

Quarrels are fueled by pride, by needing to be right, by wanting our way, or by defending our turf or our egos.

On the other side of ego, wisdom resides with the well-advised—those who listen and learn, those who allow themselves to be instructed. There is wisdom in those who:

• humble themselves— (with that attitude we become teachable)
• set aside their own selfish ambition;
• acknowledge the limits of their own understanding;
• listen to the other person’s point of view;
• allow their own ideas to be corrected.

This is the wisdom from God that spreads peace wherever it goes.

Here is a helpful quick prayer:

“Heavenly Father, help me as I battle pride today. It’s so easy to take my eyes off You and focus on myself. Give me a humble heart.”

Humility brings wisdom.

• Because it’s God’s upside down world compared to ours.
• Because it’s being teachable and considerate.
• Because it’s not always having to be right.

 

Insight:

The book of Proverbs is often quoted for its practical and down-to-earth advice for living. However, the pithy sayings that the book is noted for are not the only part of the book. Several entire chapters are dedicated to the virtue of wisdom and how important it is to everyday life. Wisdom is far more than just a quick wit; it is living your life in pursuit of God and His plans for you and those around you that you can affect by what you do, how you act & respond, and what you say.

The book of Proverbs impresses upon us in a forcible manner the value of intelligence, prudence, and a good education.

 

Kathy & I pray you to have a safe and prosperous race today!

 

My personal prayer for this last race event comes with the word “GRACE.”

The definition of “Grace” is undeserved favor, …or maybe in a NASCAR event, especially in a championship event like this, the definition is “Squeaky Clean Racing.”

There is a Championship on the line today and a number of final point positions also. And, to that, all the added teams here from the K&N East along with other teams here with only a Win on the line and this race can become a storybook event. So my personal prayer is for every team here to run a squeaky-clean, race filled with grace for each other.