I am not a big football fan and do not watch much. However, I find myself watching the Denver Broncos. Tim Tebow is the reason. As most people know, he is an Evangelical Christian who was a college star in Florida. He is a gifted athlete, although by the standards of his peers not an exceptionally physically gifted person. His skills as a quarterback have been much maligned as expert after expert says, basically, "he is not that good." What makes him exceptional seems to be his "heart" (the will to win) and his tendency to end up winning.
A large part of me delights in seeing someone who is told, "you can't" turn around and do. I am also a Christian, living in an increasingly hostile age and I am always happy for an ally, even if Tim and I come from very different ends of the Christian world. His personal faith is enhanced by his faithfulness. He is walking the talk and that is a great joy. He is a HUGE witness to Jesus.
What I found most striking about his most recent performance (the Broncos surprisingly beat the superior Pittsburgh Steeler team Sunday) is that with the game winnning touchdown, an eighty yard play, his total yardage by passing was 316. Tim Tebow is a John 3:16 Christian. The fact that his ten completions means he averaged 31.6 yeards per catch and the audience of 31.6% only add to the irony. Face it, God may not care about football but He does care about reaching people. Is God behind the numbers?
Over Christmas break, several times I woke up in the middle of the night. On three occassions in four days I woke to see the clock at 12:34. I had been noticing that combination the last few months. It seems I frequently get in my car at 12:34. Yesterday, as I left the office, I checked my watch and it was 12:35. I laughed to myself, knowing I had not seen the string. Guess what my car clock read!
One night, seeing 12:34 I prayed, "Lord, are you trying to tell me something?" As is usually the case, there was no answer forth coming. So here is the question I ponder, is the string significant or is it just a coincidence that catches my attention because it is a string 1-2-3-4? I cannot remember seeing 2:34 or 4:56 in the last couple of months. 12:34 happens twice a day, so what are the odds that I would see it both times on more than one occassion in the same week?
The reason I am thinking about it is because in Apocalyptic signs convey meaning. In other cultures, even Christian cultures, attention to numbers is considered a worthwhile pursuit. I am not so sure, but it does have my attention. It is tempting to say, "God would never intervene in football to get across 316 and God does not communicate to us by having us look at the clock at 12:34." I am rational, perhaps even skeptical. yet, there is a mystical aspect, or, maybe better, a hunger for the mystical. I want to connect with God. I want to pay attention. And I do not want to assume what God can and cannot do to communicate with me.
I was hesitant to write about this. It sounds a little weird. I have only talked about it with one person, a guy at the Y. Ironically, when I told him his eyes got real big. He said, "I have noticed the same thing." Yesterday he told me that it happened twice, including just after mid-night. Strange, but meaningless coincidence? A whisper from the Unseen. Who knows?
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