Survivor.

My husband and I are regrettably TV junkies. We caved and subscribed to Dish Network about two years ago when the digital switch happened and we were getting zero TV stations. We swore we weren't going to be those people that are always in front of the TV and that we mostly wanted a satellite to watch the news and PBS. Not so much. What I was denying to my husband and myself at that time was how much I LOVE TLC and basically everything on primetime NBC and how I'll never pass up a good Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives marathon.

We honestly don't watch hours and hours of TV a day, but we do watch about two hours of TV an evening, which seems like a lot to us. We have our favorites that we always DVR, like Project Runway, The Office, Biggest Loser, and several others. But, we get super passionate about Survivor. We both have been fans for a long time; I remember watching the very first season when I was in high school. We often have friends over to watch on Wednesdays and we pause the show to freak out and comment and vent about what's happening.

This season has a contestant on the show named Matt, who is a Christian. He is not crazy, which is how many Christians are portrayed, and in fact, act on television. He is genuine and honest and humble and I very much enjoy watching him play the game. Matt was blindsided on one of the first episodes and sent to a new fixture on the show, Redemption Island, where he remained for several weeks waiting to return to the game. When he finally returned, he was voted off and sent right back to Redemption Island. His opponents made him out to be naive and idiotic.

Another contestant on the show, Philip, is actually idiotic. He might be kind of crazy, or at least acts so. In last night's episode he claimed that he had a dream-vision of his deceased Cherokee grandfather telling him where his misplaced swim trunks were. And the next morning he went to where he was shown in the vision and found them.

During the season, many times I have been frustrated with how much trust Matt has put in our God and been seemingly let down. He says that he is playing only to honor his God and that he feels that God has him on the show for a reason and that when God wants him to leave, he'll do so obediently. But he has been so beaten down by hunger and discomfort and people lying to him and the craziness of a game being played for a million dollars. Last night I wondered as Philip, someone who has put his faith in his deceased ancestors, found what was lost, why Matt, who has put all of his faith and trust in our Almighty God, has been continually beaten down? Why hasn't God chosen to display his magnificence in this willing servant on national television in front of millions of viewers? Doesn't that seem like a good platform for Jesus?

At the end of the episode, a girl named Julie was sent home. As she was leaving she explained that she had no regrets about coming on the show, that her life had changed. That she had seen and heard Matt's story with God and couldn't wait to get back home and find a church and serve there.

And I almost cried. About silly Survivor. Because God is there. He is here. He is doing so much more in peoples' lives than I can see or understand. He is doing so much more than making Matt successful on Survivor. He is using our beat-down stories to change the people around us.