I’m pretty sure I started swimming before I could walk. Summers were always spent in swim lessons, and then eventually swim team. The water was like a second home to me, but I didn’t discover a true passion for it until my freshman year of high school when I was introduced to the beautiful sport of water polo. Do you ever have those moments when you think to yourself “God put me on this earth to do this…” Well, as silly as it sounds, that was water polo for me. I loved the game. I loved the competition, the struggle, and the challenge. The truth is, lately when I think of the World Race, I think of water polo.
In water polo, there is a position called the Hole Set, or “Set”. They are placed in the center of the pool, right in front of the opposing teams goalie, and their job is to receive the ball from the point guard up top, and score. Sounds simple right?
Wrong.
See, this job would be easy for the Set save for one small problem: the Hole Guard. The Guards’ single job in the entire game is to make sure that the Set does not receive the ball, and if they do, make extra sure to take it away from them before the Set gets a chance to shoot. This interaction between the Set and the Guard can get pretty messy and somewhat violent. In fact, it can often seem as though the Guard is drowning the Set because all they care about is taking the ball away at any cost.
So the question still remains, what does this have to do with the World Race?
Here’s how I see it. God has asked us to stand firm for him in the life he has given us, kind of like the Hole Set standing (or swimming) with tenacity on the water polo field. The Lord is also standing at the point ready for us to take on the task he has set before us, kind of like the point guard waiting to pass the Set the ball. But then there is the Guard, putting up a wall between the two so the pass is not easy.
I have found that the Guard comes in many forms such as doubt, anxiety, and fear, all of which come from the devil. The Guard’s main job is to make us feel as though it is impossible to receive the pass. To make us feel as though we are drowning. This concept is definitely applicable for me when it comes to the World Race, because in all honesty, I have recently felt as though I am drowning. Fundraising can be overwhelming, and discouraging at times. I have found myself wondering if I will even reach my fundraising goals, and therefore begin to doubt whether or not the Lord has actually called me to go on the race.
But that is exactly how the Guard wants the Set to feel. The Guard wants to make the Set feel so alone that they begin to question the possibility of even receiving the pass. And this is where tenacity, courage, and trust enter the field.
In water polo, it is a privilege to watch a good Hole Set play because no matter how many times the Guard pulls them under, or gets in their way, the Set relentlessly fights back. The Set exhausts every muscle in their being just to find an opening for the Point Guard. Why do they do this? Because they know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Point Guard is up top waiting to pass them the ball. The Point Guard never leaves. They call the play, and it is the Set’s job to follow through and make it happen.
This fact gives me comfort. The Lord is waiting at the top, ready to pass the ball, ready to give me the task of going on the World Race, but the Guard is always lurking in the shadows like a thief, waiting to use fear and doubt in order to steal that task from me.
In the end, it is the Set’s decision whether or not to fight back. It is the Set’s decision whether or not to trust that the Point Guard will not let them down or leave them on their own.
I know that the Lord has called me to go on the Race, and I will not let doubt, or anxiety about fundraising drown me because in the end, I know the Point Guard has my back, and when the pass is finally made the goal feels oh so sweet.
