Intervention

I wonder how many more reality show angles are possible. I've never been much of a fan of that particular genre. I tried to get into Survivor, but it didn't do much for me, although I do like Survivor Man. Even that show is losing its appeal, as is its counterpart Man vs. Wild. There are only so many times you can really get into watching a man eat a frog or swim through an icy river or drink water squeezed from cow dung.

Every now and then when I'm channel surfing I will come across a reality show with an intervention theme. If you're not familiar with those shows, you probably at least know the concept. Someone is ruining his or her life, usually because of an addiction, and the cameras follow the person and loved ones as they go through the process of an intervention. I wonder how sincere it all can be when it happens before a TV camera. (A friend and I once tried something of an intervention with another friend who was struggling with anger. It didn't go well. He got angry.)

I was thinking the other day of the interventions I have been through on the other end, as the one on the receiving end of the intervention. Would that make me the interventee? It's actually happened quite a bit.

At one point, although I wasn't a bad husband compared to a lot of others, I was on a path that would have led me to miss out on the real joy of marriage. I was becoming increasingly distant and withdrawn.

Another time I was on a course that would have led me to treat Jesus as if he were little more than a fire insurance policy for the afterlife. I knew I didn't want to go to hell and he was my ticket out, but that was about all I really wanted from him.

In fact, there was another time where I didn't even want that. Talk about self destructive behavior. Actually, it was self-centered behavior, and that was the problem. God had been moved to the periphery, and barely there.

I'm thankful that I have experienced intervention in all of these situations, and so many more. I'm glad that the One doing the intervening cared enough that he wouldn't be deterred. I'm also thankful for how he stayed right beside me and led me to a much better place. And most of all, I'm thankful that he provided the resources for me to change where it's most needed, in my heart.

I wonder if any of this was captured on film?