Be Like LeBron

 

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6

Sometimes God gives us tasks that we do not feel confident to do. We do not feel as though we are skilled in that area and we wonder why he called us to do it.  I feel this way often about my writing.  I just do not feel as though I am a good writer.  I listen to a ton of audio books, podcasts, and read books, and I typically conclude while I am doing so that I am not as good of a writer as the folks that wrote them.  My grammar- how I communicate with others- isn’t the best, and it often translates into my writing.

I was reading from the book of Ecclesiastes this morning. The scholars believe that King Solomon wrote the book. He was a much better writer than I.  I am trying to improve and working on it, but the fact remains that I will just never be like Jane Austen, Toni Morrison or J. K. Rowling.  Nonetheless, I am sticking with it.  I am going to tell my story because it will help someone else.  Even if my story helps just one person, it will be worth the time spent.  Please do not look at this piece as a pity party or a way for me to get compliments from my blog readers.  It is simply the truth. It is truly how I feel sometimes. 

However, I also know that feeling of uncertainty, the lack of confidence that I feel, is coming from the enemy. It is a way to try to cause me to stop writing and not share what God has done in my life.  How often do we stop what we are doing because of fear?  If we know that we are doing something God has called us to do, instead of stopping, we should continue to work on it.  Continue to practice until we improve our skills to the point where our confidence has strengthened. Push through that fear and never quit.

My husband is a huge LeBron James fan. Of course, he is watching the NBA playoffs right now and seeing all the amazing shots he has been making.  Imagine if Mr. James felt insecure one day about a bad shot that he made, so he decided to quit practicing- or even playing basketball- all together.  How crazy would that be?  I know it’s an extreme example, as he is arguably the best basketball player of all time.  I am sure he has felt insecurity and fear at different points in his career- especially early on.  Thankfully, he did not let those feelings get to him or allow them to take over to the point where he stopped working on his craft.  Because of the many hours he has spent, and because of never giving up, he has far exceeded every other basketball player in the world.  

Do you remember the song “I wanna be like Mike” that we used to sing about Michael Jordan? Why have we not made a song for LeBron?  I need my creative friends to get on it!  But, I digress…

I am writing this to encourage you today.  What are you afraid of? What is stopping you from pursuing your goals and dreams?  Do you worry you are not good enough?  Not skilled enough?  Not smart, or pretty or handsome enough? Do not let the enemy of our souls stop you from making the impact in the world that you were meant to make.  Instead of listening to the negative thoughts, get to work, get focused on what you need to do, and just do it.  Ask God for strength to continue if that is what you need.  Ask him for confidence when you are lacking it.  Do not stop and do not let fear or lies take over or distract you from what you are here – only for a short time- to accomplish.