Volleyball and Faith

All hard work brings a profit...Proverbs 14:23

I sat in the bleachers again last night and watched my daughter play her last regular season volleyball game this year and I realized that  volleyball and my Christian walk have some things in common.

As I sat watching the ball zing across the net and then back again, I realized that the sin in my life was like that too. I might think I resolve them and move on  but sometimes, just like that little white ball, they come back again and I have to think and move quickly to get it out of my life.  How quickly I forget our human nature leads us to sin and instead of wishing it would just go away, I should get more confident in planning my defense.

Sometimes the challenges in life resemble the speed of the ball coming across the net.  Every now and again you can see them coming at you like a nice, easy high free ball.  Other times they fire at you like a kill from above the net. Most of the time I can gather myself and make a good defense, but every now and again things hit you so hard you just go down and need a minute to recover.  How quickly I forget each of those challenges, especially the ones that really pound me down are God's way of showing me how much I need Him.

I love the look on a servers face as she watches for the official anticipating that whistle to serve.  In that moment all eyes are waiting for the approval of the one in charge...the whole gym is at a pause until that sound.  How quickly I forget God has the whistle and it would serve me well to pause more often and wait for his signal before trying to manage everything on my own. He, just like that official can see everything involved and won't let something begin until it's all in order.

Ideally, the ball should be hit three times before going back over the net to the opposing side.  One person can't be responsible for all three hits, in requires teamwork.  How quickly I forget I'm not in this life alone.  It's ok to ask for help and to depend on someone else.  The greatest help of all also comes in a set of three...Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  That's a pretty unstoppable defense when I think about it.

The whole game was a reminder to me about how we were not created to be solitary creatures.  We were created to need and depend on and trust both man and God.  The harder we work together, the better the outcome!  I love it when the Father allows me to see something old with new eyes!

A Seed To Plant:  Take a hard look at something that regularly
 happens in your week and see how it might connect to your Christian walk.

Blessings on your day!