The Calm Before the Storm

Oswald Chambers (My Utmost For His Highest) – July 7

How many times had I heard the words “practice makes perfect” growing up. My mom would say it as I began making excuses for why I didn’t want to play the piano. Those Sonatina’s and Sonata’s were a bear to tackle, and it seemed as though I would never learn how to play them all the way through without making mistakes. I can practically hear my mocking tone as I echoed my mom’s words under my breath…”practice makes perfect”, making my way to the piano stool to begin my daily practice.

And how many times did I hear those words while complaining on the way to soccer practice growing up? From age five, the time I first played for a soccer team, the mantra continued. It seemed to invade every worthwhile area of my life.

But by High School and College, I didn’t need to hear those words anymore. I knew it to be true. Practice did make perfection. How else could I explain the things my body was able to do during a match. How else could I stop a 60 mph ball from entering a 24 x 8 ft space?

Perfection, in this context, is of course relative. I clearly got scored on…A LOT…but I did rank #1 in the country for NCAA Division I goalies for a period of time, and I did end up #3 in the country for two seasons running. So practice had to have had a part in that. Practicing taught my body to react heroically and instinctively in match-play situations, and victory was my reward. Game time was a testing of my disciplines, practice, and hard work…and when we beat Colgate for the first time ever in 25 yrs. on their home field in front of 10,000 of their fans, THAT was a noble and victorious moment in time.

Thank God He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a glad thing, but it is also a heroic, holy thing. It tests us for all we are worth…If we obey the Spirit of God and practice in our physical life what God has put in us by His Spirit, then when the crisis comes, we shall find that our own nature as well as the grace of God will stand by us.

Oswald Chambers – My Utmost For His Highest (July 7)

Are you finding that God’s will is not so easy? Are you tired of all the discouraging upward battles that come your way? Do you question God’s will for you because life doesn’t go according to “plan“? All noble things are difficult. This has also been rephrased as ‘nothing good comes easy’. When you’re feeling this way, look for God’s promises, and hold on tight to it. Go to practice, because practice makes perfect.

“For I know the plans I have for you . . . plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).