Confidence in GOD, NOT Self

"When you have confidence, you can do anything." - Sloane Stephens, American female tennis player

It helped having a father who played professional football and a mother who was a collegiate swimmer. However, being blessed with athletic genes wasn’t enough. In order for Sloane Stephens to win seven tournament titles, including the 2017 U.S. Open, she had to devote countless hours to practicing her serve, her return, her volley, her backhand, her lob, her drop shot, and numerous other aspects of the game. She also had to believe in her God-given ability that allowed her to rise as high as #3 in the world rankings.

I can’t begin to identify with the talent it takes to be a professional athlete in any sport. The single-minded devotion… the self-discipline… the constant training in the gym, on the court, or on the field. However, I can – in some small way – relate to the issue of confidence.

For instance, when I started America’s first athletic prison ministry in 1987, I didn’t have the confidence to take the field myself. Instead, I scheduled the games, wrote the lineup, and then sat back and allowed other players to fill the various positions on the softball field. If we were extremely short-handed, I would fill in as needed, usually as a catcher, second baseman, or right fielder… and almost always batted myself last.

Somewhere along the line, perhaps in our third season or so, I began to realize that I was as good as (or better than) some of the other guys on our team. And so, with some initial fear and trepidation, I began to pencil my name into the starting lineup. Over the next 20 seasons, I became a proficient lead-off hitter with a high average who often led our team in on-base percentage and runs scored. I also became an accomplished defensive second baseman who wasn’t afraid to get my uniform dirty by diving for a ball that others might have given up on. By the time I relocated to Florida to launch Risk Takers for Christ in 2011, this one-time benchwarmer had been named MVP by his teammates on two separate occasions.

I share that story NOT for my own aggrandizement. On the contrary, I fully subscribe to the Apostle Paul’s admonition in Galatians 6:14… “But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” My singular point is that if God can use ME, just imagine what He can – and will – do with YOU!

All it takes is a little confidence (dare I say F-A-I-T-H) in the abilities that God gave you. That’s why I used to write the following verse in the infield dirt before every prison game…

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President