Liv'n'Hope

The ball was in my court.

I could almost see Him standing before me, waiting for me to speak – to make my move either toward or away from Him.

I opened my mouth to say all the words my heart longed to express…

But not a sound issued out.

I willed my foot to lift from its place and at least take one stride forward…

But I was rooted to the ground.

Such frustration filled me, making my blood boil. I so wanted to be able to say everything He expected me to say; to do everything He expected me to do.

But I couldn’t… and I felt so ashamed.

My head drooped.

I couldn’t understand it. The ball was in my court, but why did He hit it so far away from me when He knew I couldn’t reach it on my own?

I never would be able to live up to His expectations.

But are all these really His expectations for me right now?

Of course, He wanted me to read and obey His Word and show others the way to Him.

And certainly He wanted me to have a healthy balance in what I did with my time.

But didn’t He also say that apart from Him I can do nothing? And that works follow faith?

Faith was what I lacked. But where would I get enough faith to run across the court and hit the ball over the net? And what if I was too slow? What then?

As I thought over those words, it suddenly dawned on me…

God wasn’t the Opponent on the other side of the net; He was, in a sense, my Teammate and my Coach rolled into one!

And all He wanted was for me to communicate and co-operate with Him – not to go it alone. Only He could be the spotless Lamb of God and fully match the standard required to finish the work on the Cross. He alone had already defeated the real Opponent on the other side of the net: Satan.

God knew my limitations, my injuries. But I had become distracted and intimidated in the midst of an important test. He wanted to know if my heart was still in it.

Just a grain of mustard seed… just a syllable… just a slight inch forward – right then, that was all I had, and it was all He wanted.

I opened my mouth again and managed to say, “Yours.”

The ball went flying over the net.

He had hit a winner.