On the Court: Part I
My daughter plays basketball.
That, in and of itself, is a pure wonder to me since I still duck and/or scream when a ball is thrown in my general direction. (Go ahead, mock me.) I take delight in watching her play with her team the same way I reveled in her first steps as a toddler: it thrills me.
Being in the gym during a game is, however, an assault on my senses. It’s crowded. Cracked plastic bleachers force me to constantly shift in my seat. The visual stimulus of a rapidly-moving game keeps my eyes darting up and down the court. But it’s the sound that really overwhelms me.
Parents cheering (or sometimes jeering at the referees). Younger siblings stomping up and down the bleachers like piano scales. Dribbling balls. Rubber-soled shoes squeaking on the court. Teammates calling plays and communicating back and forth. It all reverberates endlessly off the hard walls of the gym.
I watch.
Not just the players, but the coaches as well. This isn’t my sport, so I learn from what the coaches say to the girls. Mid-play, from the sidelines, their coach uttered merely one word of instruction — just loud enough for her players to hear. My focus shifted back to the court. The response was immediate: girls shifted to a different defense without so much as a second thought, or a glance at the coach.
I marvel.
In the midst of a chaotic game, where the players are keeping track of a fast-moving ball, responding to the plays of their opponent, and executing offensive plays of their own toward the goal of winning, they could hear — and respond to — their coach.
Not unlike the Shepherd and His sheep, according to John:
“The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
— John 10:2-5 NIV (emphasis added)
We scurry through our days, keeping tabs on our to-do lists, appointments and errands. We,too, have an opponent, whose ploys warrant defense. More importantly, we strain toward what is ahead that we might win the prize of pleasing Christ. (Philippians 3:14)
How then, do we tune the ears of our hearts to hear His instruction while playing hard on the court of our lives? By knowing the voice of our Coach. Being familiar with His counsel from drills and practice: the careful study of His Word and hours given to prayer. The more familiar we are with His voice, the more easily we can discern it amongst the ambient noise of our lives.