As a Tiger fan sitting in Death Valley this past weekend for
the LSU vs. Alabama exhibition, the game did not finish with the outcome that
myself, or any other one of the 100K+ fans that filled the ranks of the
stadium’s bleachers, suites, and nosebleed sections expected. With LSU not closing with
a victory since 2011, I found myself questioning, “When will they ever be good
enough?” During the somber walk back to the car, I found this question hovering
over many aspects of my life.
Photo from The Advertiser |
I have always struggled with thoughts of not being good
enough, not being good enough in relationships, athletics, academics, etc. In
the same way that LSU ran their race with BAMA up until the final 5 minutes
before every Tiger fan let out a collective sigh of disappointment in
acceptance of impending defeat, I was acutely aware of how I’ve never been the very best [like no one
ever was]. I was reminded of my singleness, my “ok” fitness abilities, and how
I didn’t necessarily get into my first choice of school. It was a very raw and
grounding wave of emotions.
Considering my Christianity, it would be SUPER helpful if I dropped an
encouraging verse like Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,”
declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
a hope and future…” right!? Some Christians tend to forget about the context of
this verse, and how the whole reason Jeremiah was receiving this message from
The Lord was because the whole of Israel was being a huge, disobedient-gnarwhale, towards the God who had saved them from
countless amounts of trials and self-indulging actions.
Not to disbar JER 29:11, but when considering The Bible, LSU
vs. BAMA, my life or yours – context is everything. Israel continued to fall
short after God brought them out of their Babylonian exile, LSU may never beat
Alabama as long as Saban’s reign continues [Geaux Tigers, Forever LSU], and I
still don’t have a wife or DPT behind my name, yet. This isn’t the ideal-super-encouraging-faith post, but
it’s real life, and I know all of these things are the way they are for a reason.
John Piper once said, “Life is hard. God is good.” 1 Peter
1:6-7 says, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary,
you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your
faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may
be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus
Christ.”
It is easy to incur what I’ve heard coined as “spiritual
amnesia,” when considering the current personal sufferings we may find
ourselves in, and how one can so easily forget of God’s goodness as soon as
something not-so-great happens. This abstraction of faith solidifies in action,
and when I let my fears take the reins of my thoughts, my actions surely follow
suit.
A strong woman once told me that as an athlete, some are
scared to give 100% because they may find out they are not good enough. Some
allow that fear to cripple their walk, while some face it head on. If I’m being
honest with myself, I’ve done both. But I take heart in the fact that trials
test faith (in whatever that may be for you), and that through these trials we
gain multi-faceted endurance to continue our race.
No comments:
Post a Comment