I am a guy who simply loves competition. Growing up, I have always loved to compete. In my house, we are all so competitive that a simple game of monopoly, could start a fight. I mean folks will lose sleep over losing.. LOL… Now let me go this way today. I have learned to not worry what people say about me or mine. I have learned to not be watching to see who is plotting or planning to set me or my folks up for failure. I was just saying to a friend that I don’t find it necessary to jump through certain hoops that others do or to worry about certain things in ministry because I truly believe that what God has for me is truly mine if I want it. I look at preachers competing for members.. I look at Christian artists competing with secular artists to the point where God’s spirit becomes invisible in their works. All we have to do is do what God says.. It doesn’t matter if folks are plotting against you on the job, in the community or in school. Do as God is leading you. I tell folks that I don’t worry about the tests that my kids face because God has set them up in a manner that they always end up on their feet. My 16 year old is about to enter into what we feel is a critical time as far as basketball is concerned. You try to get them seen by the right colleges, train their bodies and skill sets to make them marketable. You place so much trust in high school and club coaches to do what they are supposed to do in order to have your child in the best position possible. So many of us don’t include the will of God in any of our thought processes. We pIace all of our eggs in the baskets of folks who may or may not truly care about the future of our children. I often tell parents that no coach will love or care for your child more than you do. I make it a point to do my part first and if they help out, good. If not, it’s OK as well. I have taught my kids to be competitive but not to the point that they become haters of those who put in the hard work and reap from them. I encourage them to trust God, put in the work and watch the fruits of their labor be produced. Though it is a process, I’ve tried to teach them not to focus on the perceptions of folks trying to discredit them or bring them down. What God qualifies, no man can disqualify. What God has for them is for them. I shared with my wife over the years when folks tried to back door her at work, to not focus so much on them but to continue to seek God and HE always took care of her. I don’t feel the need to take anything away from you. I truly trust that what God has for me is more than enough.. it is more than what I could ask or think of. I just need to do as HE says do. Let me lay a couple of scriptures on your plate today for you to munch on. Some of you don’t really want to hear what I have to say so I trust that you trust the Word of God. This is where I see myself and mine… This is where you have to start seeing yourself. Psalm 16:5-6 says.. LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance..
In other words, what God has for me is truly for me… God has already set your blessings aside. More than enough… TRUST THAT! Just do the work of the Lord and you will receive the fruit of your labor and some… As for you folks who constantly are looking into someone elses yard and trying to sip from their cup, I want you to know that when you spend your time worrying about what others are doing, plotting or what they have, you are just confirming your lack of faith in God… I don’t know about you but I’m not worrying about what’s in your cup. Mine is good enough.
Eat some more… "If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. . . The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you" (Deut 28:1-8).
In other words, what God has for me is truly for me… God has already set your blessings aside. More than enough… TRUST THAT! Just do the work of the Lord and you will receive the fruit of your labor and some… As for you folks who constantly are looking into someone elses yard and trying to sip from their cup, I want you to know that when you spend your time worrying about what others are doing, plotting or what they have, you are just confirming your lack of faith in God… I don’t know about you but I’m not worrying about what’s in your cup. Mine is good enough.
Eat some more… "If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. . . The LORD will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven. The LORD will send a blessing on your barns and on everything you put your hand to. The LORD your God will bless you in the land he is giving you" (Deut 28:1-8).