Commercials

One thing I love about the DVR technology is that I can record a movie, a sporting event or a TV show and then fast forward through the commercials. I hate commercials on TV. They are louder than the regular show, which the FCC refutes. They disrupt the flow of the show. They distract and in today's world they are more than happy to show inappropriate material to my children. They seem to go on forever and ever, one after another.

The only time I attentively watch commercials is during the Super Bowl! The Biggest Football Game of the Year! They are expensive. They have to put their most creative foot forward to fasten my attention. You've got my 30 seconds of attention, maybe 60 if you're really going to spend the big bucks. Now... show me what you've got. Super Bowl XLVII had a host of commercials and my favorite turned out to be Dodge Ram's use of Paul Harvey's classic radio voice reciting "God made a farmer." (Check it out on YouTube if you missed it)

With the Ravens now the Super Bowl Champions, life will return to the normal disdain for commercials until Super Bowl XLVIII.

My iWitness...

The game of life is on. You're moving the ball down the field and with all the momentum going your way, someone calls a TV timeout. Impatience mounts as you wait to get going again. The commercial goes on and on to the point of a total meltdown on your part. The game resumes and you are still so undone by the commercial that you cannot continue cruising down the field. You resent the commercial break to the point that you find yourself punting in no time.

But what if the commercials in our lives were designed by the most creative artist of all time - God? What if these TV timeouts were created for the exact purpose of getting our attention?
What if these timeout's sole purpose was to protect us from running plays in our playbook that might lead to our own destruction and/or demise.
What if these commercial breaks allowed us to refocus our mind and hearts on God?
What if these pauses in our life forced us to refocus our minds and hearts on the Playbook of the One who will go to any length to grab our attention?
What if these pauses posed enough time to gather the strength and courage necessary to play the rest of the game with love, grace, mercy, joy and thanksgiving?

Where do you find yourself these days? Cruising down the field? Pounding the ball for a three yard gain only to lose a yard or two on every other play? Fumbling? Perfect plans intercepted?

Would a commercial help? A TV Timeout? A short creative reminder that God is in total control? A little 30 second recitation of scripture that sparks a remembrance that you were made for a special purpose? A little break to catch our heavenly breath?

"Be still and know that I am God." (Psalm 46. 10)

With just a slight turn of perspective perhaps we can see God in a different light.
Maybe it's the commercials that are the main show after all...

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear Not!
David!