The great unknown

WWW.TheDavidAlliance.com

7-31-19 Wednesday

 

He never got the credit he deserved. He didn’t stand out, he was not a phenom… People overlooked him and even dismissed him. He seemed irrelevant, un-notable… 

But ahhh yes, looks can be deceiving. 

Can you relate?

 

 

TDAgiantslayer@gmail.com 

 

 

Michael Lewis of the New York Times Magazine wrote an article on Shane Battier who played for the Houston Rockets. The article basically showed Battier’s career as a pretty lack luster average at best basket ball life in the pro’s. He was not a great ball handler, seldom took shots and grabbed few rebounds, he was slow and lacked any type of “game”. His scoring was unimpressive. If you watched him play in his career you would not even recognize him as a great player and even dismiss him in any conversation as a truly exceptional ball player… and yet. He guarded people like no one else. He wasn’t fast, he didn’t steal the ball, he didn’t block shots… he was (as one person put it) like a 6 foot 8 inch mosquito who just aggravated you. 

What people didn’t know is that Shane was a studier of people. Whomever he would go up against he would spend hours looking at film and picking out the smallest of weaknesses and learn how to exploit them. His team was much more likely to win with him on the floor then if he wasn’t- not because he scored, not because he stole the ball or blocked shots… but because he exploited others weaknesses. Fact is, when he played in the league Kobe Bryant was the best player at the time, and whenever Battier guarded him Kobe

the laker team actually scored less than if Kobe had not even played. You understand what I am saying? If Battier was guarding Kobe, the Lakers would score more points if you just took Kobe out of the game. 

 

But here is the crazy thing… no one really even picked up on this until the end of Battier’s career. 

 

 

God is watching… don’t worry about what others see and don’t see in your walk with him. Don’t strive to get credit for being a Christian… definitely do the right thing… but if you live a life that seems like no one notices just how much you do for your family, friends, kids, church etc… God notices. 

 

I am not talking about simply living for the praise of men… but something deeper. Many of us men feel like we do the right thing and all it gets us is spinning our wheels. You know the old saying “nice guys finish last”… well that may be true or at least feel that way… but here is the good news YOU FINISHED. Most men who call themselves a Christian don’t finish the race… they sputter out. They phone it in, they get older and colder rather then older and bolder. 

 

Look in the news lately I have seen reports of Christians walking away from the faith… I am sorry, but I don’t believe most of them actually had a faith to begin with. I believe many of them were living for the wrong motive and when it didn’t materialize they blamed their magic wand called Christianity. When in fact they never really knew Christ to begin with. 

 

Proverbs 15:3 - The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.

 

My word for you today men is simply this: Do not lose heart in doing good in time your reward will be great. 

(Galatians 6:9) 

 

You don’t care if others see your efforts… what you care about it knowing that God sees your efforts! 

 

Push forward, carry on, live for God and when it gets hard, cry out to him and he will answer you.