His Eye Is On The Long Shot

Do you remember the old spiritual, His Eye Is On The Sparrow? Jesus Himself spoke of that. But why would Jesus give a sparrow as an example of something that the Father watches over? I’ll tell you what I think. It’s because God, as lofty as He is, is greatly concerned about the small and the ordinary. And isn’t a sparrow among the least of all birds? No doubt it’s because there are no outstanding characteristics about him. Nobody watches a sparrow while expecting to see anything that would excite them even in a menial way. To put it plainly, a sparrow is of no significance or reputation among the vast array of birds to be found in our world. He is much like the racehorse that’s been labeled as “the long shot.”

I love horses. I also find a horse race on television exciting to watch. I, like most believers, haven’t the slightest interest in gambling. However, I could enjoy a good horse race purely for the sport. As in all sports there are the highly gifted contenders; then there are those that have a weakness or two, excluding them from the greats; next are the ones whose track records are okay, but nothing more; and finally there is the long shot. That poor old long shot – he’s a lot like the sparrow. How so? He’s among the least of his breed; he has little or nothing to speak of that stands out; not too many eyes are upon him as he pounds the turf along with the rest; then lastly, and just like the sparrow, he is considered insignificant, not to be taken seriously, and is in no way to be compared to the others. Howbeit, every now and then the remarkable occurs. This disrespected and unappreciated animal gets to feeling his oats. And about the time that the pack turns for the stretch, he suddenly senses that the race belongs to him. Then from somewhere way deep within there comes an eruption of power that causes him to pass one horse after the other until he is looking back at them all. Gloriously he crosses the finish line with his rider standing high in the stirrups and his arm raised in the air, the jubilant sign of victory. When a sound and highly gifted favorite wins a race, there’s no real commotion made. Most bettors simply go and collect their small profit, being not at all surprised, and it’s over. But when the long shot upsets the field, his bettors are beside themselves, since he has brought them great gain.

I’m sure you must know that my intentions are not to glorify horses or horse racing; far from it. Rather it is to say this. From the Pentateuch to the Revelation, long shots would be difficult to count. And in the end they all won their race. This was because their Owner, Trainer, and Rider were nothing short of flawless at their work – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit who is like the wind. And He brought them over the finish line in glory. Not only this, but He has given their names renown throughout the ages. Let us begin with the meekest man in all the earth. In the book of Exodus we find Moses afraid and hiding from the pharaoh in the land of Midian. When the Lord appears to him to tell him that he would be Israel’s deliverer, Moses was nothing but disagreeable in everything that God spoke. Kicking against the goads at every turn, he did his best to convince his Maker that he was unqualified. And so, we see that going back even to Israel’s youth, God’s eye was on the long shot. However, this long shot came through. There came the day when Moses - full of faith - took hold of the rod that God had given him, and stretching it out over the sea watched in great wonder as the waters divided. Not only did he lead the people out of bondage, but he became a great shepherd over them and judged them for forty years before the Lord took him home.
But I did say that from the Pentateuch to the Revelation we can read of the long shots. Who could that have been in the last book of the bible? The answer is its author. John the Revelator was just a young teen when the chosen twelve walked with Jesus. I’m sure the other men must have thought that our Lord just liked having him around for whatever the reason be. Possibly he was to serve as a sort of mascot for them. Or maybe their leader just liked the boy’s way. But what real work could Jesus possibly have for him, once He threw off Rome’s yoke from the nation? Yet how surprised they must have become when John was picked to be in the Lord’s inner circle, composed of just three of the twelve. It must have later become obvious to them that Jesus had a special love for young John – one like He expressed to no other disciple. It would be this same John who would go on to live for decades longer than the rest. To add, the Spirit moved in him to author more scripture than all the others combined. And only the judgment seat of Christ will reveal all the fine quality fruit from his many years of laboring for the Master. But once he was seen as just a nice kid, or merely a boy that Jesus liked to have tagging along. Yet within this unlikely prospect there was a spiritual giant being forged.

Gideon was a young man who no doubt lived in fear. Hiding in his father’s winepress he would thresh the wheat. In this way he wouldn’t be seen by the Midianites who would repeatedly come to destroy Israel’s crops. But one day the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon to announce that the Lord was with him. The Angel even went as far as to address him as “you mighty man of valor!” He then went on to tell Gideon that he was chosen of God to save Israel from their enemy. But Gideon’s response was that his clan was the weakest in Manasseh, and that he was the least in his clan. And so, here we are not only speaking of a long shot, but a long shot of the long shots. Therefore, just like Moses, Gideon was not easily convinced, a lot like many others would have been with the odds so stacked against them. Consequently he tested the Lord more than once, until he felt there was ample proof that God was with him. In the end Gideon placed himself into the hand of his Maker, trusting that as inadequate as he believed himself to be, the Lord would yet win a great victory through him. The result was just that. And as the scriptures tell it, Israel had rest for an entire generation.

Do you remember Jephthah? He was a man disowned by his brothers. This was because he wasn’t the son of their mother, but was in fact the son of a harlot. He was told he’d have no inheritance in their father’s house. Jephthah left his family and dwelt in the land of Tob. There he became captain over a band of marauders. But it came to pass that Israel and Ammon went to war against one another. Israel had become hard pressed. They sent for Jephthah and his raiders. He was made commander over the men of
Gilead. Who’d have thought it? Once he was an outcast, he had turned lawless, and he wasn’t considered capable of any good doing from that time on. Who would have bet on Jephthah to lead Gilead against Ammon? But such are the works of God. He brings up His chosen from the ashes and the dunghills, from the gutters and the graves; it is then that glory is wrought, and with it the Almighty is crowned. Jephthah was proved a success, and eventually he was made Judge over Israel. He judged the nation for six years. Also, this onetime bandit, who none could foresee any good coming from, can today be found listed with the heroes of the faith, recorded in the book of Hebrews.

Once there was a Benjamite by the name of Saul. Saul? But he was admired and respected, handsome as can be, and head and shoulders above all other men. I don’t mean Saul who was crowned king. I’m referring to Saul whose name was later changed to Paul. But actually he too was a favorite in the race. As a pharisee he had much to say about himself. He spoke of how before his peers he was without blame, and he had listed clearly for his readers all of his accolades. One day, however, his Maker got hold of him and broke him down, but all so that He could reassemble him again. During this remaking Saul lost his vision. Howbeit, he was granted new vision. Now he saw everything differently. Not only did his God take on a new form, but he saw everything from the bottom up, instead of from the top down. In other words, he was humbled. His name was changed to Paul – Paul, meaning “little.” Once he strutted his stuff, but that period of his life had become history. Not only was it history, but Paul was glad that those days were over and gone. He had even reached the point where he was able to say that he counted all his trophies as dung, so that he could gain the knowledge of Christ. Paul’s ambition now was to win Him – a Person, and not things, to win the favor of God, and not of men. Once he was among the most elite of the pharisees, but in Christ he had called himself “the least of the apostles, not being worthy to be called an apostle.” And so, Paul had taken up a position on the track behind all the other apostles. In the past he was a promising favorite, but now he associated himself with the many long shots in his nation’s history. Consequently, Paul of Tarsus, who was born out of due time as he once described himself, labored more abundantly than all the rest, and suffered greatly for the sake of the gospel. Near the end he made this statement: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” And I cannot help but believe that in some way he was winner over all.

Who can ever forget the young shepherd boy? In the fields he sang beautiful songs unto his God. Who would ever expect such a lad to slay a giant reputed for his feats of war? How high the odds must have been on that day against David coming through for Israel. King Saul felt so. He therefore thought he’d help David’s chances by offering him his armour. But the One enthroned on high wouldn’t have it. Should Saul rob the Almighty of glory? Too bad the king didn’t understand that the real giant who’d be taking the field would be a young boy with a sling and a few stones. And did faith ever give birth to a greater giant as it did on that day?

Would you be surprised to know that nothing too great was ever expected to come from Mary, the mother of Jesus? But what came from her was the greatest thing in the history of the world - Eternal God wrapped in mortal flesh. In her own testimony known as “The Magnificat” she spoke these words of herself: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; …He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly.” The Lord of heaven and earth would move young Mary from the rear’s depths to a place far ahead of all others – ground that no one else but her will ever set foot upon.

Earlier I said that all of Israel’s long shots, who would rise to the occasion and win their race, would be difficult to count. I take that back. They would be impossible to count. For who can number those of whom these words speak: “They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” It goes on to say how all of these obtained a good testimony through faith. What a price those heavily burdened and oppressed souls paid, and all to remain true to the God who they worshipped and loved. Their tormentors saw them as refuse, as worthless, and as losers. And isn’t that exactly the way a long shot is looked at? But all of these – and in the sight of God – crossed the finish line in glory. Each was a dark horse in life’s great contest, but all were winners in the end. Once they were the poor in spirit. Now, their’s is the kingdom of heaven. O what the Lord can do with the least likely to succeed! Does He not take pleasure in the least of the contenders? How He loves to watch the scorned one He has chosen overtake the bunch – those who the world has put their trust in.

Are you a long shot? If so, and your eye is upon Him, then His eye is upon you. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” So it reads in the Chronicles. And more than not He seeks for those who live in caves; He searches out the man turned away by family and friends; He’s near to the seemingly no-account boy with a no-account weapon. Why is His eye upon what the world rejects? Why does He take the misfit by the hand to seat him upon a throne? Why would He show a loser visions of glory? Why does He choose the unloved to reveal secrets to? And why does He take the lowly to place them upon a mountaintop? It is because they are empty. Mostly they’ve been made empty by the world about them. Disrespected and taken for granted they’ve been told all of what they could never accomplish, and very little of what they may be good for. Yet all of the emptiness inside of them can ironically become their greatest asset. For this gives His Spirit all the more room to fill. And it is for this very reason that their God looks for the lowly, the broken, and the outcast. It is because that in them He is denied no space by which to thrive by His Spirit. Nevertheless they must believe. And when they believe, nothing will be impossible for them. These long shots will win their race. Who can do otherwise when so filled with the might of God? Then the highly rated favorites they’ll pass one after the other down the long homestretch. Propelled by a calm and quiet power they’ll run as if on the wind, while in great strides they near the finish line; there the reward awaits them. What is the reward? “Fear not,” said the Lord to Abraham, “for I am your shield and your exceedingly great reward.” The reward is a Person. Remember, Paul the apostle’s new goal was to win Christ - Christ alone and not things. If we think otherwise it’s because we haven’t quite caught full sight of Him – in all of the power, in all of the majesty, and in all that renders Him divine. It is for Him that we contend with the darkness. It is for Him that we buffet our flesh into submission. And He is the reason that we run. Let the mane fly wild! Let the hooves pound with thunder! Let us run as if on the wind.

J. Pecoraro