I think I have played more basketball this week than I have in the entire last year. We were blessed to have a group of Americans visit our city this week. They used basketball, both teaching and playing, as a way to befriend local students, teachers, and players so that the Gospel could be shared.

I arrived back in town from our Tibetan Road Trip (see last weeks blogs) a day after the team had arrived and begun to visit local schools. I decided to go one afternoon and take a look at what was going on. As soon as I arrived, I was told that I would likely get to play in a game that was soon to take place between the Americans and the school's team.

That game turned out to be the first of 4 I played in this week. We played 3 Chinese highschool teams, as well as the local city's professional team. As I played this week, I realized that I live my life a lot like I play basketball. Let me explain.

I have not played basketball on an actual team in almost 10 years. I can play pretty good, but only because I am tall, have big hands, and can jump pretty high. I do not have the natural talent to be a dominating player, and it shows when I play.

If I have a wide open lane and the chance to take the ball to the hoop without being touched by defenders, I'll do it in a heartbeat, and I will do it well. But if I am one on one with a 'real' basketball player, you will see me looking desperately for a teammate to pass the ball to. I know that I will probably fail in beating the guy one on one to the basket, so I don't even think about giving it a try.

As I was thinking about one of the games later in the evening, I began to realize that I do the same thing in life quite often. I'll do all kinds of things that look great and may even seem daring and out on the 'cutting edge', but ONLY if I know that I won't have much resistance and that it can be done without too much trouble. If it looks like I will face resistance or that I might fail in something, there is a good chance that I won't even try it to begin with.

I am writing this not to say that I am doing the correct thing in life or in basketball. In basketball, the situation might require me to 'take a chance' and go for the score, no matter if I might not succeed the first time.

In life, what really is at stake is doing the will of God. If He has said 'do it', then for better or worse, I must obey. In that case, it is not up to me to decide whether I think I can succeed or not. If God has let me know that there is something He specifically wants me to do, then the only choice I have is to 'leave it all on the court' in obedience to Him.