April 13, 2020 - Are you taking advantage of the "off-season"?

So here we find ourselves in the midst of a quarantine… and wondering what to do with ourselves… it is like being in the “off-season.” For many years I have been coaching/training players and trying to encourage them about the “off-season”; as primarily a basketball guy I try to explain that times like now are what actually develop you as a player. Most think they will get the work in practice once the season starts, yet that is a time where the coach is needing to implement team concepts and plays, it is not the ideal time to develop individual skills.

I regularly ask players what they are doing to get better… now is a great time to be out on the driveway putting in the work… it is a great time to go online to somewhere like otterbasketball.com (Jason is the best trainer I have ever encountered) to tap into some personal training… it’s time to get stronger and  better!

Obviously, the point of this weekly blog is not basketball training… it is to encourage/motivate believers in the spiritual race. I realize it is hard right now to be stuck at home but there are examples in Scripture of how to handle it in a way that helps us get stronger and better.

Let me remind us all that God traditionally has used His children in times in the wilderness or times in prison to still make a difference. I think of Paul praying and praising during such times… or of John being exiled to the island of Patmos and still being used by God, even though he would have been an old man at the time. What we read is that these men of God were attentive to God and attentive to others, not focused on self…

We need to take this quarantine-time and make sure we are in prayer and in the Word! If evaluating this time, I wonder if we could write what the Spirit had Paul write in Philippians?

1:12-13 But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and all the rest, that my chains are in Christ.

Take a look at things like your social media and evaluate what has “become evident” about you. Are you taking advantage of the time to celebrate and propagate the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ?