BEST DAYS

Jeremiah 51:54-52:34; Titus 3:1-15; Psalm 100:1-5; Proverbs 26:18-19

“Listen! Hear the cry of Babylon, the sound of great destruction from the land of the Babylonians. For the Lord is destroying Babylon. He will silence her loud voice. Waves of enemies pound against her; the noise of battle rings through the city. Destroying armies come against Babylon. Her mighty men are captured, and their weapons break in their hands. For the Lord is a God who gives just punishment; he always repays in full.”

“Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But, when God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he declared us righteous and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.”

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.”

“Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon
 is someone who lies to a friend and then says, ‘I was only joking.’”

There are, in fact, times to celebrate. When we experience victory as God’s people, we ought to rejoice, even as we give God the ultimate glory. There is nothing wrong with taking individual pleasure in a job well done, either, so long as it does not mushroom into sinful pride. God wants us to be pleased with ourselves, particularly when He, too, is pleased with us. There will always be people like Michal, David’s wife, who claim our unadulterated joy is unseemly, and maybe even arrogant. But certain wins deserve recognition; they deserve to be lifted up, and they need to be shared. The small-minded among us who can only think of how to bring the winners back down to earth just need to find someplace else to go. When the good guys overcome the bad guys, there ought to be a victory party. Those who refuse to join in the dance deserve the isolation and bitterness they cultivate.

Days like the last two just don’t happen very often in an attorney’s life. In fact, as far as I am concerned, they have only happened… uh, this once. Only this week did the stars so perfectly align. Only Thursday and Friday has the legal victory ever been so complete, or so shared. It has been a golden time of blessing, made all the more special because I was able to share it with my oldest son. In the process, I also shared with him something of my legacy.

Trial, so far (we’re not done yet), has gone very well, beyond anything the team could have hoped for. The legal rulings are mostly going our way, and the facts are coming in better than we’d hoped. We have been very fortunate. The big event of the last two days was my cross-examination of the opponent’s first expert. It was more effective than I dared to dream. The witness really did turn out to have some serious credibility problems, and he left the courtroom with the truth completely exposed. Next week, the jury will hear the rest of the case and decide the parties’ fate knowing reality, at least. An attorney can ask no more. The best part, though, was that my son – a young attorney himself – got to watch me do it. It was my greatest professional victory, and one of the most special times I have shared with my son. The old man got to show the young buck how to do a thing or two, and the lesson was truly appreciated. There may be things sweeter than respect shared between professionals who happen to be father and son, but today, I can’t think of any. It truly has been a golden couple of days.

So, here is what I think today: our society’s overemphasis on political correctness and so-called “humility” frequently boils down to no more than an effort by those “Debbie Downers” among us to bring the beauty and victories in life back to the lowest common denominator. Read Revelation: our Lord expects – nay, requires – our praise and glory, our celebration of His victories. Our unwillingness or reluctance to give full praise and celebrate visibly actually has a damping effect on our ability to fully experience, claim and celebrate life with all its joy. We have forgotten or stunted our ability to rejoice, and that’s just wrong. As children of God, we can, and should, celebrate shamelessly, as long as we are rejoicing in the right things.

So, let me be very clear. The victories of the past two days have been the product of a lot of individual hard work and analysis on my part, but they also resulted from the incredible cooperation and participation of the whole trial team. They contributed everything from technical advice to legal research and analysis as we toiled into the wee morning hours together. But mainly, the glory does go to the Lord, for it was in prayer that I received the best advice. See, we knew what we had. The trick was to expose the man without coming across as merciless or mercenary myself. Several times, I was given more or less friendly advice to “be nice” while I was totally destroying his credibility (my first imperative). It’s not an easy thing to do both at the same time, especially with an uncooperative and credible-looking adverse expert. The Lord had an answer. After all the preparation, with adrenalin pouring through my body our first morning just before court opened, I took a moment and bowed in prayer to share my dilemma with the Father. His answer was immediate: “See him as I see him.” That was my way in.

I make no claim to having performed that part of my task as well as the rest, but the Holy Spirit had a major part in the victory, regardless. I could have been my own worst enemy. Christ once more saved me from myself by graciously tempering my intensity with a measure of His mercy. The outcome was a complete win… at least, for today. Trial, like life, will go on. I am taking the time now, or making the time now, to give glory to God for what He has already done.