Carson is on the high school basketball team. His school is fairly small and their team is very young with only two seniors.....and only one of those has played all the way through high school. But, they do have a lot of talent and potential. A lot of heart. A lot of fight. And a great coach, who we all just love....parents and kids alike. One thing they don't have, though, is height. I guess you could say that we generally don't grow them very tall in this part of our Mississippi county, at least, by basketball standards. And there have been a couple of injuries, which have taken out what little height they had. So, in conclusion, they're a talented, hardworking albeit young and somewhat vertically challenged group of guys. 

Well, two or three weeks ago, our team traveled, a couple of counties away, to play one of their regular season games. The parents started to trickle in and fill up the visitors' side just about the time the teams came out to do their warm-ups. First, our team ran out and did their pre-game drills. There weren't a lot of them but, as usual, they looked awfully sharp with their well-oiled routine. We, parents, were confident and proud of our boys with absolutely no reason to doubt a victory.

Then, all of a sudden, the home team came charging out of their locker room and jogged onto the hardwoods to the rhythmic beat of their enthusiastic band. It was a long train of grown men with 5 o'clock shadows is what is was. They looked like the Lakers. The Lakers had shown up to play our small high school team. And there seemed to be 100 of them. And they all had on these blue and gold warm up suits. I think the garish colors marching in unison past our somewhat less imposing team in their more muted hues, well, that made them look even larger. Their gold basketball shoes gave their feet a Big Bird appearance. We, visiting parents, all exchanged concerned glances as they dwarfed even the dads in our stands. Maybe we came to the wrong gym. Maybe we'd gotten the nights mixed up.

Well, the game got going and the score quickly grew as uneven as their sizes. It almost became painful to watch. We'd make strides by getting a shot, but they'd always answer. We just couldn't seem to gain any ground. Our guys were having trouble covering the Lakers, who seemed, at least, a foot taller than them. They were sinking threes, over and over. I even believe there was a dunk or two with some rim hanging. We'd need a ladder to do that. It was just a miserable matchup, so no one minded a bit when they decided to leave the clock running in the second half. Our side of the gym just wanted to be put out of our misery. But, our boys played hard until the final buzzer. Even with the lopsided score, they ran and fought and got their hands up in their faces .....as difficult as that task was.

I don't know about where you are but, where I live, there have been so many tragedies and losses, and so much sickness, over the last few months. The last several weeks have really seemed bad for people we know. It feels like we learn of something new almost every day and, after a while, it's hard not to carry that around with you. Maybe you've sensed it in my writing.

I guess I had a lot on my mind as I sat in the basketball gym, that day. I thought about how when we show up for this life, we never know who we'll have to face. Sometimes, we encounter some pretty intimidating foes......and their blue and gold warm up suits cause them to look twice their already daunting size. When we eyeball cancer, a wayward child, being widowed way too young, or an undiagnosed illness, well, we can feel painfully small and insufficient to take those things on...to stop their destructive threat. I guess we can be like our basketball team. Sometimes, we walk in the gym, see the competition, and feel pretty confident about our chances for victory that day. Other days, the looming shadows of the oversized opponent shine a bright light on all of our shortcomings and we feel insecure......and fear quickly follows.

God never promised that we'd always have it easy. Life is a continuous battle. He knew we'd be outmatched, sometimes, at least from the human perspective. He knew that we'd have days when we'd just be too tired to face a seemingly insurmountable opposition. He knew that some adversaries would hit us where we're weakest and, some nights, we'd go to bed feeling the soreness of battle.

That's why He promised to be strong in the places where we're frail. To stand tall for us when we feel like we don't measure up. To give us strength even when everyone around us is exchanging concerned looks at the sight of the uneven matchup. "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness...." If victory was only up to us, we might have good reason to sit down and forfeit in fear. But, thank God, the One who put us together and knows where our most fragile parts are and where our deepest fears live, well, He promises to shore up all the wobbly places and become "the One who lifts my head" (Psalm 3:3) to face each and every day no matter what opposes me.

"So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."  2 Corinthians 12:9

I pray that you'll have the strength you need to stand tall today.

Your God is bigger.


Have a great Tuesday!