Revelation 12:11 – They triumphed over him by the blood of the
Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death
rust or rigor mortis
I went out by myself this morning and ran through some old
tennis drills, because what else is there to do on a sunny and 70 degree morning
during quarantine, right? I always prepare a small speech in my mind explaining
what I’m doing or why I’m so bad when I go hit the ball by myself, in case someone shows up and sees me embarass myself. You know,
the normal stuff like “yeah honestly it’s been years since I actually played,”
or “let’s be real I peaked in high school.” After sending the third ball
sailing over the fence in the span of 15 minutes, I thought to myself wow, I really did peak in high school. In
the same breath of thought I knew that I was just out of practice. Life has
really picked up since the good ol’ days and my coordination and athleticism
have really taken a nose dive in the process. I couldn’t help but think about
the other things that seem to have lost regular movement and acquired rust or rigor
mortis in the meantime since high school. The shortened list includes my snapchat game, my
cooking skills, my ability to pull off cargo shorts, and, getting real here, my
“talk about Jesus to strangers while striving to look like Him” abilities. I
look back to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes that I was blessed to share
leadership of, the spiritual conversations I would recklessly dive into with
random friends or acquaintances, and my willingness to pray at the drop of a
hat and all I can think is man.
Those were the days.
practice
Thankfully God has continued to convict me in other ways and
helped me grow and he’s still my best friend and yadda yadda, but these are a
couple areas of my life that haven’t been called upon in quite a long time.
Sports or whatever else was important a few years ago seem
to have mostly been pushed aside to make room for the more pressing agenda
items such as not getting kicked out of the rental, looking for the next
strategy to acquire more funds in hopes of having a good life, or finding the
right church family to worship with. But today while I felt drops of sweat appear
on my back and forehead and more tennis balls seemingly shotgunned outside the
fences as a result of my random swings, I kept thinking about how important
practice and movement of the individual parts is in the maintenance of the whole.
Peaking in high
school just meant that I was at the peak
of the amount that I practiced.
good ol’ days?
It seems like the stars just aligned for the good ol’ days, doesn’t
it? Everything worked together for the combination of available time to be
spent, determination, and the other available resources that created some kind
of formula that made memories that will last forever. The idea of being a
Christ follower with no fear seems to be a thing of the past. I know looking
back it seems I wasn’t afraid to speak my mind or offer Jesus as the solution
to an issue where it seemed he didn’t belong. But those days seem so far away. It is so easy to look upon our
current lives with sorrow or regret of what we’re not doing, or what we’re
doing wrong. Paul is someone who often encourages sorrow as a necessary step in
a walk toward growth:
2 Corinthians 7:11 - “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what zeal, what readiness to see justice done!...”
Mismatched priorities need only to be realigned, and being
out of practice means only that it’s a good idea to get out there and practice
again.
There is no longer such thing as a world that will not be
fighting for your attention constantly. In the midst of this pandemic that we’re
experiencing, one would think that more opportunities for spiritual growth
would be created than ever. But I, for one, have had trouble sorting through
the notifications on my phone well enough to even make it to online church on
Sundays. We may have mistook the word “opportunity” for “convenience.” I truly
don’t think that anything worthwhile will necessarily be convenient, and being
a follower of Christ is no exception. If we’re not practicing, rust builds,
joints stiffen, and tennis balls may fly out of the fence.
they’re now!
I’m so thankful for a God who not only allows space for rust
to build and joints to stiffen for our learning, but also is the first to
provide the WD-40 and cleaner for when we learn enough to get back out there. He
empowers everyone in different, beautiful, and powerful ways. There is room to
practice again, and convenience can come later. The good ol’ days are ahead of
us if we want them to be! I’d challenge you to search for rust that’s been
created by this pandemic or other circumstances that have perhaps caused a lack
of practice somewhere in your life. Commit to practice and don’t forget the
incredible grace with which we’ve been provided a chance to start fresh.
Are the things fighting for our attention
more important than the peak of our faith?
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 - “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
The good ol’ days? They’re now!
