There's always someone better

LARRY BIRD is one of the best players in the world and of all times. What few people will know is how he got his start. When Larry arrived at the University of Indiana and saw the immensity of it, and the almost 20,000 students who studied there, it frightened him so much that he returned to his home town. There, he was working as a refuse collector, until the trainer from Indiana State (who had heard all about him) convinced him to come back and play. Later, on several occasions, he became an NBA champion with the Boston Celtics.

I don't think the person exists who has never felt fear on at least one occasion. We are always coming across situations, people, or places that intimidate us. Sometimes we overcome and carry on, but the majority of times we retreat in fear. Maybe you think it isn't worth it to confront those things, that it's better to live within our comfort zone.

The Bible tells us that the Kingdom of God is seized by the courageous. Does that mean that Christians never feel fear? No, what it means is that we need more courage. The giants aren't always going to defeat us. Adverse circumstances don't always have a right to rule over us. God gives us the same counsel that he gave his people in the past, "Use the strength that you have."

Now you may think, "That's all very well, but I can't do anything about it." When we come up against a difficult situation, we all think we are helpless to change it. When people ridicule us for following the Lord, we think we are beaten and without defence. When we have been praying for a critical problem for a long time, and nothing is happening, we think that this giant is too big to defeat. When we ask God to touch someone's heart, and time goes by without seeing a change, we tend to get discouraged.

In spite of that, the Christian life is for the valiant. No-one knows like a Christian does, what it means to confront everything and everyone. We are used to standing against evil, and for that we need courage. If we tell someone about our faith and he mocks us, we need to be brave. When we want to serve people and others think we are crazy to do it, we must have courage. Use the strength that you have. To be valiant is to show the world who we really are, without fearing what might happen.

We all need to learn to be courageous. God keeps asking us to use the strength that we have... his strength. No giant can resist that.