You need a trigger to create excitement for something you haven’t really cared much about. 

You can get interested in something that you wouldn’t normally be focused on, but you first need something that will peak your interest. 

Way back in high school the TV was a magnet for me. I would come home after school, grab three or four cookies from the tin my mom had hidden, and flop on the couch to watch television. 

We only had a black and white TV so I was not watching in “living colour” as NBC advertised. One of my favourite shows was Perry Mason, so it didn’t matter that we only had a black and white TV. That show was filmed in black and white. It was a who-done-it show where Perry Mason, the lawyer, defended the cases. He always won.

At some point they changed the time of the show to a half hour later. Instead of coming home and doing homework, or something crazy like that, I just watched whatever was on before my show. 

I had never seen a soap opera before, but with a half hour to kill before Perry Mason, I started watching the “Edge of Night” …  da da da dum. 

Something I had had no interest in suddenly caught my interest and, for a while, I religiously followed the Edge of Night and knew all the characters.

The trigger for me was that I had time to kill before watching what I really wanted to see. I got sucked into watching what was before it and I got hooked – interested. 

The same thing has happened to me with the FIFA World Cup this month. 

When I was in college, I played soccer … or football as they say in the rest of the world. In fact, my college team won the Saskatchewan Provincial Championships in 1984. We went on to play in Toronto at the National College Championships. I was injured most of the season that year but I did get in a little action in one of the games.

So I know soccer. Also both my kids played some soccer and I watched them play in high school. 

… But I have to tell you, it’s not my favourite sport. 

I didn’t mind playing it, but watching it is tiresome. The biggest reason is they don’t score enough goals. The goals that are scored are often spectacular and the skill is amazing, but they just don’t score enough for me. 

So I’ve never really gotten too exited or interested in the World Cup before.

But this year is a different matter. Canada had a team in the tourney and, all of a sudden, I’m into soccer. 

I’m watching highlights of games. I’m watching games that Canada is not even playing in. 

Basically it took Canada making it into the World Cup for me to have enough interest in the game to get excited about it.

Team Canada was my trigger.

Here’s the thing: Life is full with all our activities, work and interests. If God has not been part of your life from an early age, it might be hard to get excited about Him. But there are triggers that can cause us to consider God and then become interested in knowing more about Him. Triggers like discouragement, trouble, heartbreak, sadness, stress and other things can cause us to look for help outside ourselves. Some of these things will come to all of us at some time in our lives. Be sure to seek God for help and comfort and you will find you want to know more about Him and His love for you. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What has triggered your interest lately? Leave your comments and questions below.

Subscribe to my blog and receive posts like this one to your email about twice a week.