Playing by the Rules

One of our favorite family pastimes is to play cards.  I have so many memories as a child playing cards with my family.  My dad was quite the card player.  He could tell you any card that had been picked up and was certain to let you know if you weren’t paying attention and played into someone’s hand.  We had the most laughs at the expense of my sister.  She would pick up any face card whether it went with her hand or not.  She just couldn’t let one pass by.

As a child, intense conversations focused around not paying attention or not playing smart,  however, as a mother, my family found different points to  argue.  It usually centered around who was cheating.  For some reason, my kids believed if you were winning, you had to be cheating.  I will say with 98% honesty that I never cheated.  Now, if you were not aware enough to hold your cards where they couldn’t be seen, that was your own fault and fair game.  Other than that, I always played by the rules.

Playing by the rules is something I have done all of my life.  I don’t know if I am just afraid to break the rules or if following rules provides order to my life, but I am a rule follower through and through.  I even make up rules to follow such donuts are only allowed on Friday.

The problem is, I somehow began to put my trust in following the rules instead of in God’s grace.  I think I got confused along the way and really believed if I followed all of the rules, nothing bad would happen or if I followed all of the rules, I would find favor with God.  For the most part, the rules were biblical rules, but some were institutional rules.  No matter, I followed them – all of them.  Now don’t get me wrong, following the rules set forth in the Bible is the way to go.  John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commands.”  I would do it all over again.  In  his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul writes, “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God,”  However, following the rules did not protect me from life.

I was extremely fortunate to live in the perfect “Polly Anna” world most of my life.  Then my kids became teenagers and what do you know, they weren’t perfect.  I began to ask questions and doubt my actions.  How could this happen?  We went to church every time the doors were open.  We had family devotions every morning….  What rule had I missed that would cause this imperfection?  After that, the unexplainable happened and cancer hit our family head on.  I first wanted to ask why? or how?  I had done my part, I had followed the rules.  What I was soon to learn, was following the rules couldn’t protect me, but there was a God that could.  Maybe you have been treated unfairly at work, been hurt by a spouse, or faced financial hardships.  God might not keep any number of painful events from happening, but he would walk beside you all of the way.  Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you.”

I had to learn it was really about my relationship with Him.  It was about His love for me.  It wasn’t about how many rules I had kept or broken.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are blessings and rewards for those that keep God’s commands.  I James 20:25 confirms that if you are a doer of the word (follow the rules) you will be blessed in what you do.  The problem is we can’t follow the rules just to receive blessings or just to be protected from the ugly part of life.  We follow the rules because of our relationship with God and because of how much we love Him.

Maybe I should make up a rule about following rules.  All I know is that we can never do enough to earn what God freely gives us.