Get In The Game

Today I want to challenge you. I want to challenge you to Get In The Game. What game am I talking about? It’s the game of life. It is the pursuit to be all that God has created you to be. Seeking success not from man’s standard, but rather from God’s standard. I know it might sound like I am setting you up for failure, but I am not. I am just challenging you to be the best you that you could possibly be. Success God’s way is built solely on seeking God the creator and not the things He created.

Matthew 6:33, …seek ye first His Kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.

God wants us to tell ourselves, "If I seek Him first, He’ll take care of the rest." This is your first step in seeking success. Without God, you will never have success. I don’t care how much money you have or how much stuff you have—it’s not success.

Message 1: Put God First

Now, this Game of life involves three types of people:

1) The Audience
• They show up solely to watch, and not to participate
• Some will cheer while others will criticize

2) The players on team that are not on the playing field
• They wear the uniform and are eligible to participate, but are not on the playing field

3) The players that are actually on the playing field
• They're playing the game
• They are having to make moment to moment decisions that could affect the outcome of the game
   which could be failure or success.
• These are your leaders, visionaries, decision makers
• These are people that see something needs to be done and they do it.

In this game of life there are no limits to how many players can be on the field at one time. You don’t have to wait for the coach to send you in the game. God is the Coach, and when He made you, He provided you with everything you will ever need to play this game.

For most of us, getting in the game means stepping outside of our comfort zone. Fear keeps us in our comfort zone. It’s the fear of the unknown. We see mountains and storms in our lives, but we don’t see how to overcome them.

There is a story in the Bible that talks about a prophet of God named Elisha.  The king of Aram was seeking Elisha because he had been delivering messages from God to people that the king of Aram wanted to harm. These messages were to warn people of the kings plans.  These messages were hendering the kings plans.  When the king found out where Elisha was, he sent his army to destroy him.  Elisha had a servant with him. When the servant saw the army surrounding them he was afraid.

Have you ever heard of the phrase Lions, Tigers and Bears—OH My!! Well this was a Troops, Horses and Chariots—OH My!! Moment.

The army was all around Elisha and his servant, but the prophet of God was not scared.  However he did say a simple prayer.  The prayer was not for his benefit, but for the benefit of his servant.

2 Kings 6:17 says….
Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see! The Lord opened his servant’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire (This was God’s army, which far out numbered the king’s army)

God's army had surrounded the kings army.  You could only see God's army through spiritual eyes.  Elisha knew this, which was why he prayed that God would open the "spiritual" eyes of his servant.

Message 2: God is bigger than any mountain or storm you could ever experience.

My point here is don’t be afraid to get in the game for fear of failure. Whatever the world might throw your way, remember that God has your back.  Does that mean that you won’t go through hard times?  No.  But what it does mean is that when you do go through the hard times, whatever they might be, God will go through them with you. He will go in the fiery furnace with you.  He will hold your hand and even carry you if He has to in order to get you through it.

Don’t let fear hold you back. It’s one of Satan’s favorite weapons that he uses against us.

Bruce Wilkerson, the famed author of the book entitled, "The Prayer of Jabez," also wrote a book called “The Dream Giver.”  In The Dream Giver, Bruce Wilkerson talks about an ordinary person who lives in a place that is familiar to him and safe.  The main character decides to leave the comfort of his familiar and safe place to pursue the dream that the Dream Giver (God) had placed in him. Along the way he runs into border bullies who try and keep him scared and keep him from leaving his comfort zone. Once he had overcome the hurdle of fear and left his comfort zone, he then found himself in a wilderness.  He discovered later this wilderness was a time in his life that God used to prepare him to be able to handle the dream that was growing inside of him.

King David had to go through his own wilderness period when he ran from King Saul.  David loved Saul, but Saul couldn't see David's love through the eyes of his jealousy.  God used this period of time to help David grow into his annointing.  He had already been annointed King, however he had not been allowed to step into his annointing.  He wasn't ready to handle the responsibility that his annointing called for.  God sent men to David for him to lead while he was in the wilderness.  Unknowingly, David was learning how to be a leader.  He was learning how to be the King that he had already been annointed to be.  He was living under the providence (the invisible hand) of God.

God won’t allow you to reach your purpose if you are not ready to handle it. But He will use the problems you go through in life to prepare you for it. However, you have to be willing to leave your comfort zone.  This means that you have to keep moving forward in spite of your fears.

Thinking back on Black History Month.  Can you imagine where this country might be today had Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. decided he just wanted to sit in the audience and watch the game or just stay on the sideline and never get into the game?

He was just an ordinary man who listened to God and did an extra ordinary thing.

I challenge you again to be a leader, an innovator, a visionary, and a purpose seeker.

Get In the Game…. There’s room for us all.