I Am Not John Doe

I took my son to meet a guy named Deon Hunter last night. Deon is a basketball coach/trainer working with kids to improve their skills and he played for the Dallas Mavericks at one point in his career. He's a neat guy, very positive and incorporates his faith in what he does. He spends almost as much time talking about the mental aspects of the game as he does the physical, always in a a way to build the child up and give them confidence.

One of his comments about confidence last night got me thinking about my relationship with God. Deon approached it from basketball skills telling my son "if you know you have the ability to do something and someone walks by and calls you "John Doe", you can stand firm and say no, I'm _________ (state your name). Confidence allows you to be who you are, not who someone else says you are." His words apply as much to my Christian walk as it does to basketball.

People can call me all sorts of things, say all sorts of things about me, but I'm confident in my relationship with my Lord and I can say "no, I'm Jeff, a child of God's. I am his and he is mine. Through Christ my future is secure and nothing you say or do to me can take that away. I am confident in my standing in his kingdom."

Confidence gives us security, whether it be on the basketball court, in the battles of daily life or in our standing for eternity. I am confident my God loves me and has a place prepared for me. I can stand firm in his overwhelming love for me (Romans 5:8) and I can use that confidently to withstand any attack, any battle, any challenge.

Grace and peace to you.