“Lord, don’t let my gifts take me farther than my character can sustain me.”
DREAMERS ARE EVERYWHERE.
No matter what career you are invested in or what goals you envision yourself accomplishing in the future, you are probably the type of person that is passionate about the process required to realize your dream. You are a gifted individual with unique talents that separate you from the rest of the pack.
But if you're anything like me, sometimes the dream God gave you takes precedent over the God who gave you the dream. You get so wrapped up in the work and excitement of pursuing it you forget to acknowledge the reason you're able to pursue your dream in the first place.
In his book, All In, Mark Batterson writes a brilliant excerpt about the Gift Giver.
"If the gift ever becomes more important than the Gift Giver, then the very thing God gave you to serve His purposes is undermining His plan for your life. God is no longer the End All and Be All. And when God becomes the means to some other end, it's the beginning of the end spiritually because you have inverted the gospel.
God-given gifts are wonderful things and dangerous things. One of my recurrent prayers is this: 'Lord, don't let my gifts take me farther than my character can sustain me.' As we cultivate the gifts God has given us, we can begin to rely on those gifts instead of relying on God. That's when our greatest strength becomes our greatest weakness."
I know in the game of basketball it can be very easy to rely on our gifts rather than on the One who gave us those gifts. Sport is one of the easiest places for people to become prideful and believe they are accomplishing their dreams because of their talents. I want to challenge you to love the God who gave you your dream and know the gifts allowing you to be successful were given to you by Him. When the tests come into our life we are given the opportunity to rely on God and put an awesome testimony on display. Keep taking action to acknowledge the Gift Giver and you will be amazed how your dreams will begin to come true as you pursue the process!