You know you’re getting old when the music you remember from your youth winds up as background music in the supermarket. There’s a song that’s been haunting me. If you’re mature enough, you may remember it as a Bonnie Tyler song. If you’re a little younger, you remember it from the animated movie, Shrek 2. If you’re younger still, you don’t remember it at all. The song, “I need a Hero,” starts with a question, “Where have all the good men gone? The Hercules to fight the rising odds? The White Knight upon a fiery steed? I need a hero. He’s got to be strong and he’s got to be fast and he’s got to be fresh from the fight.”
Even though you may think this is cheesy stuff by today’s standards, ever since the stroke, I’ve been hyper emotional. When I hear the song, I choke back the tears knowing that I am going through the biggest battle of my life and I have no choice but to rise up and be the hero my wife and my kids need me to be. In spite of the physical pain and psychological humiliation, God has allowed this stroke to happen, and I must not give into self-pity or fatigue. This stroke has now become God’s calling upon my life. I beg God for the strength to press on (Philippians 3:14).
Heroes. We fantasize about them, we fantasize about being them. We love stories where there is some hero who rises to an impossible challenge and through grit and grime, skill and savvy, overcomes against all odds. [Sigh] It seems that heroes are few and far between nowadays. Perhaps the problem is that we’re all waiting for someone else to go first. Perhaps the problem is our expectations are too high. I must admit that I am guilty of that last one.
For the last four months, my wife has been trying to do the work of 10. She is overworked and frazzled, achy, and in need of a few days off and a good three or four nights of sleep. And it is a shameful truth that I sometimes get frustrated with her. I get frustrated because I expect her to be an idealized movie version of the “Hero’s girlfriend.” You know, the action flick where in the midst of the exploding volcano/tornado/shark attack, the hero’s girlfriend stands up, perhaps slightly muddy from wading in a piranha-filled swamp, gives an inspirational, Oscar-winning soliloquy about how much she believes in him and how he needs to rise up to be the man she knows he is, and overcome the impossible! In other words, I expect her to be my perfect heroine, my rescuer, my Savior, which of course she simply cannot be. She’s many wonderful things, but she’s not Jesus. Only Jesus can be my true hero. It is He, and He alone, who never fails. I will always be disappointed when I expect another human being to be Jesus in my life.
And yet, when we have more realistic expectations, heroes do arise from the most unlikely of places. Last night, my son became my hero. No, he didn’t pull me out of a burning car, but he did inspire me more than any Oscar-winning movie. We were having an unexpected, yet precious family moment, sitting in a supermarket’s coffee area, eating pistachios (one of my son’s favorites activities.) At first, I was apprehensive, since in days long gone, I used to open the pistachios and feed the tasty nuts to my baby boy, something that I was pretty sure my left hand couldn’t handle. But since my wife assured me that he was old enough to enjoy opening the pistachios himself, I agreed, and we sat down to enjoy. As I was watching, Micah startled me by looking up and asking, “Daddy, do you want me to open one for you?”*
I was taken aback, my four-year-old was offering to remove the shell of a pistachio for his crippled old man. Not knowing quite how to respond, I took the precious little green morsel and mumbled something about how lucky I was to be his Daddy. In response, Micah chirped, “You are lucky, Daddy. You’re lucky God saved you! God saved you and is making you stronger everyday!” I began to lose it. My voice started to crack. Yes, I must be the luckiest (most blessed) daddy in the world.
God provides heroes in the most unlikely of places.
Every once in a while, God calls someone to be a hero. He has a habit of choosing from the most unlikely sources. Moses was a murderer and a fugitive. Rahab was a prostitute. Jesus, Himself, was from a very humble background. David was the youngest of his siblings and least respected in his family. Yet, when there was a giant to be slain, God chose His unlikely hero.
Is God calling you to be someone’s hero, His champion? The Bible calls Christians, overcomers (1 John 5:4-5). Paul, in his letter to the Romans, calls us super-conquerors (Romans 8:37). In today’s language, God is calling us to be superheroes. What giant is God calling us to overcome today? Maybe it’s the giant of jealousy or envy. Maybe pride. Maybe bitterness or resentment. Maybe God is calling you to give sacrificially to a cause or ministry. Maybe God is calling you to be a better husband, father, or wife. Whatever your background may be, or where you come from, is no excuse. God is looking for a hero. Is He looking at you?
If the above-mentioned songs don’t ring a bell, maybe you remember Mariah Carey’s, “Hero.”
“There’s a hero, if you look inside your heart, …
There’s an answer, if you reach into your soul …
So when you feel that hope is gone, look inside you and be strong
And you’ll finally see the truth,
That a hero lies in you.**”
Don’t look for a hero. Be a hero.
“I can do all things (that God calls me to do) through Christ who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13 (Parenthesis mine)
* Right after Micah’s altruistic statement, Jojo pipes up, “Daddy, do you want me to show you how to eat them?”… true story.
** 1 Corinthians 6:19