by Dan Robb
Chapter II
Remember the Mental aspect of the game
There is a mental game to any sport. In fact, there is an entire industry that is devoted to enabling athletes to perform their best. If an athlete has an awful game or experience then they must guard their thoughts because it can be a slippery slope for them. Many excellent baseball players go through slumps and they are often unable to dig themselves out of the hole. We can be our own worst enemy.
Changing my thoughts was my first step. But I took it another step further with how I was thinking of myself versus the way God thought of me. God does not make junk and I lived a long time thinking and believing that I was. Through negative experiences and failures I began to adopt these negative experiences as the truths about me. The more I experienced the more I thought, “That’s just the way I am.” However, the statement, “That’s just the way I am,” is particularly destructive because it leaves no room for change and resigns us to fatalism.
Positive thinking is important, however, that will only take us so far. Positive thinking must be accompanied by positive doing otherwise our positive thoughts are not reinforced. My negative thinking was reinforced by failures and enough failures fed off of the destructive thoughts. I was a slave to my thinking unable to live freely to choose.
There was a battle waging inside that I never realized existed and it was rearing its ugly head every time I spoke, performed an action, or interacted with people. I was my own worst enemy instead of being my biggest supporter. I hated life and even hated myself. The hatred took the form of thinking and believing that suicide was the best possible route. I never acted on it, but I pondered it. However, it was the influence of a friend, which snatched me out of the jaws of the monster.
Through my friendship with a guy named Tom I was encouraged and able to gain confidence to live. His faith in God was contagious and inspiring. I did not feel comfortable until he came along at a critical time, however there was still a lack of confidence to try or finish projects and things I started. I would convince myself that I could not do it. Or I’d pondered that I was not qualified for something. It was my paradigm. A paradigm is a multitude of thoughts that form a way of thinking. I did not leave room for myself to fail as I grew up and consequently I took it as a personal indictment. I was a failure, therefore, why attempt or finish or even try something new.
It was not enough to only change my thoughts, I needed to investigate why I thought the way I did and consider the source. My source was my self-image (what I truly believed about me) and it had to be improved in order for my changes to take root and grow. Otherwise I was snapped back into place like a rubber band.
All things are possible with God and no person is ever without hope.
Now I knew all Bible verses and examples of normal people whom God used to do amazing things, yet I did not believe that He could use me to do anything, because I was constantly failing. What enabled me to take the first step to freedom was realizing and understanding the grace of God. God forgives freely and does not hold a grudge.
The next step I took was to forgive myself. This was a difficult part because I had demanded perfection and when I failed I would critique and shame myself for it. I was my own worse enemy. I left no room for growth and learning, which are a massive part of the process of growing up.
Therefore, you will need to inspect your life and ask yourself why you are where you are.
1.Remember God extols His grace lavishly on us. A simple definition of a complex concept like grace is “God’s unmerited favor.” Books upon books have been written about this concept of God’s grace and yet all have truly barely scratched the surface.
How does He extol His grace upon us? Ephesians 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (The blessing is His grace in action).
Also 2 Peter 1:3-4 says, His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. Through both of these passages, Paul and Peter are communicating that God has blessed and prepared us for life for living for Him through the Lord’s grace.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9, Paul is suffering a physical ailment and instead of healing him, God tells him that the Lord’s grace is sufficient for him. Grace is amazing and God graciously gives it freely to all. In Matthew 7:7-12, Jesus uses the analogy of giving and how a father is not going to give a son a stone when he asks for bread. Jesus lays out several examples similar to this in order to drive home the point that God gives freely good things to those who ask for His grace.
Therefore, when we pray, God will respond with good through His graciousness. This is why Philippians 4:6 tells us that we should not be anxious for anything, because our Heavenly Father will provide. Our anxiety is wasted on fears that only give the illusion of being real, but are not.