Taking a Shot

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of God will give you.” John 6:38. “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.” Col. 4:18.

Can I just say that I LOVE COLLEGE BASKETBALL…preferably Duke! (I can see my Tar Heel friends rolling their eyes as I type.) I heard a statement from a commentator the other day regarding one of Duke’s players. The commentator stated that the reason the player is having better performances is because he is finally letting the game come to him. When he was forcing plays and shots he committed all kind of fouls, turnovers and missteps. As soon as he relaxed, was patient and worked as a player on the team instead of trying to be the team, the game came to him. It immediately made me think of our ministries.

It is abundantly clear that we are to serve God in the areas for which He intends. Not only are our ministries His initiation but they are also His fulfillment. We will not fulfill what we are not called to accomplish. Every child of God is created with a God-ordained ministry in which to serve Him. Looking back, some of the spiritual shots I made were even in the opponent’s basket.

We must develop a spiritual tempo in our lives and allow the initiation of God to come to us. He is the one who will determine where we spend our time, money and resources if we will allow Him to coach us. Our initiations to serve will usually be less fruitful than the ones we accomplish in the name of the Lord. God will usually call us to minister to others in areas where we have suffered in the past. He does not take our pain lightly and will always have our experiences accomplish great things. ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted. So they gathered them and filled …with the pieces… left over by those who had eaten.’ John 6:12-13. When God calls us to minister to others, we gather our pain and our healing and minister to the suffering of others.

God brings the game to us and all we have to do is catch and release. We will score every time, and the best part is that there is no rivalry … we are all on God’s team.