Every athlete goes through a slump at some point in his or her career. For me personally, every season I would go through a shooting slump in basketball. It didn’t matter how many shots I would put up before the game, I could not buy a shot to save my life. During these slumps, I would get in my head a lot and get so discouraged and at times and in some cases stop shooting. I was taught though that to get past a slump you have to keep on shooting. Even if I was 0-12 one game (yes that has actually happened) to just keep putting shots up with a mindset of the “next ones in.”
I think our lives following Christ can be like that too. You just have those moments where it doesn’t matter how much you get into His word or just rest in His stillness, those head moments happen and you get nothing. It can be really frustrating and at times question, “alright God are you sure you know what you are doing?” which is so silly because of course He knows what He is doing. Let’s be real, nothing surprises God; He is all knowing, all the time. So why do we get into our heads about this? Why do we question a perfect God who is always and I mean always working for and through us. I wish I had the answer. All I can say is that this time of questioning and frustration is only going to lead me to discover more about His goodness. Just like being in a shooting slump, the best way to get out of it is to practice shooting over and over and in my case with God, to ask myself some hard questions.
What I have learned through basketball and in life is this, slumps are not there to slow you down, but they are there to teach you something. The lesson is not always easy or fun, but it is there to help mold and shape you. I also want to say, that it is okay to not be okay. It is okay to not understand everything, God didn’t call us to know everything, because if we did then why would we even search, why would we even pray? These moments are pointing us in the direction to know, love and serve Him more.
Being in a shooting slump pushed me to become a better shooter. Maybe these difficult and questioning times are just a way that God is using to draw me closer to Him, to go deeper into His love than ever before. So I will keep on shooting.
