If you’re into basketball you’ve probably heard of Allen Iverson.  If you go to YouTube you can watch his legendary rant on practice, why he missed it and how crazy it was for the media to make a big deal over him missing practice. As he said “Not a game; practice.”

In all my years of playing baseball and going through practice, scrimmage’s, exhibition and actual games, I never knew that this simple breakdown of each I’m about to write about, may actually help you get through the tough times ahead.

PRACTICE = Church on Sunday
In sports having practice is vital. Practice helps you achieve muscle memory and through repetition, helps you get ready and familiar for when you experience a live game-time situation. 

In this scenario, going to practice is like going to church on Sunday. The reason practice is important is because practice builds up your focus and awareness for game-time conditions. This is exactly what going to church on Sunday should also do for your spirit. Build up your spirit so that when troubles in life come your way, you’re better equipped to handle them.

Scrimmage or practice games = Bible Study
A scrimmage game is usually a simulated game among your teammates or another team so that you can take what you’ve been learning in practice and executing it in game like conditions so you can see what modifications you need to make in your game or what area of your game needs more attention.

Bible study is very similar. When a person goes to bible study, they are usually going over the message they heard that prior Sunday, asking questions and now implementing it into their daily life or routine.

Exhibition games = Real-life crisis in your life
The only difference between an exhibition game and an actual game is that everything that happens in an actual game counts. In an exhibition game if you hit 4 homeruns, yes you had an awesome game and yes you were able to take what you’ve been learning and execute, which is amazing. But when the game is over all the stats are wiped off the board. Now you should be ready for a real game, where everything is being done at full speed also but this time everything counts.

Covid-19 is a great example of an exhibition game. For those that say they trust God, they have faith in God, God this, God that, Covid-19 is your exhibition game; how did you do? If you’re panicking or wondering what is going on, where is God, I don’t know what to do etc… Then you know you need to spend more time on the practice field and competing in more scrimmages.

Guess what? It’s ok if this is the case. It’s better to know through an exhibition what area of your life still needs work because when you are placed in an actual game time situation, you want to be as ready as possible.

Covid-19 is the exhibition game everyone participated in regardless if you wanted to or not. The question becomes, how did you do? Now is the time to ask your self that question and if you’re not happy with the results then get more practice in and work on the areas of your life that need work. If you need a mentor to help, then get one. We should all have a mentor to help us in life.

Life that we knew of prior to January 2020 and especial prior to September 11, 2001 is over. Personally I don’t think we will ever see that way of life ever again. But that doesn’t mean that life going forward for a season can’t be better than expected. God is performing a shift and during this shift we will see God perform in ways we probably never expected. We will also see events that could be terrifying so it is important to work on your spiritual game so you are ready for the days ahead.