Trading In My "A" Game For a "B"Attitude

O.K. so I admit it. I am a sports fan. I like to watch just about any sport (Nascar racing, golf, and football being the faves) on television or in person. My husband and I have been known to sneak away for a long weekend just to catch one of the Grand Slam tournaments in golf without being interupted by phone calls and kids wanting to know what's for dinner.
One of the things I have noticed regardless of the sport, is the term "Having his (or her) A Game". This phrase is usually reserved for the most popular players and is used to describe their performance for a particular game or event. If they played well they were said to have brought their "A" game, if not then they left it at home.
I think given the choice, everyone (myself included) would like to be thought of as "having their A game". Whether it be family, business , sports, or even their worship time, we all want to bring our best to the table. Funny thing about an "A" game though, is that it often has an unpleasant side effect called pride.
You see it happen over and over again. You bring your "A" game, things go great, many pats on the back, and you start to think "Man I'm good", "wow I did it", or "boy what would they do without me"? A self-centered focus takes control of your heart and God becomes an after thought. Even our prayer time becomes a "Me" fest with all of our attention focused on what God can do for us instead of what he desires from us.
So how do we combat this enemy called pride? While praying about this recently (as pride is an issue I struggle with myself) God led me to Matthew 5:3-11, the Beatitudes. The name alone caught my attention quickly. At first I sorta laughed thinking "Very funny God, the Be attitudes I get it", but as I meditated on each verse I realized that an attitude adjustment is exactly what I needed. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the ones who hunger and thirst after righteousness". All of these are things that keep us Christ focused and humble before God, and there is no better cure for that nasty side effect called pride.
Now I'm not saying that God doesn't want us to bring our "A" game to the field, as he desires the best from us. But when your "A" game starts sounding like a "me" game, swallow your pride and go to plan "B".

Drivers Ed

I have five children. All of whom have gone through that wonderful right of passage known as Drivers Ed. I (for reasons that we won't discuss here) have always been the one designated to teach them how to navigate the roads. From the very beginning I would tell them two things. One buckle up, and two keep your hands on the wheel at all times. Over the years the hand positions on the wheel have changed, 10 and 2 now it's apparantly 8 and 4, but whatever the current trend, keeping your hands on the wheel at all times was the rule.
The time spent on the road with my kids taught me alot about trust. We encountered a few situations that made me really glad to know that my salvation was secure and that God "had my back" so to speak, but I also learned my own lesson in "drivers ed".
The lesson that I had to learn was contrary to the one I had so adamantly taught my own children. God was teaching me to take my hands "off the wheel".
How many times had I prayed to God for help, and then turned right around and did it my way? Endless repeated conversations with God about what needed to be done, never bothering to listen for an answer, and then running back and asking "why", when the results I were hoping for never materialized.
Learning to take our hands off the wheel is hard. We are prone to want to be in control and relinquishing it to anyone (even God) causes us to step out of our comfort zone. And that is precisly where we meet God. After we have exhausted all of our own ideas, when we come straggling back to God weary often desperate and say," here Lord take the wheel, I can't navigate this road any longer", will we be free to let go.
Being a "Road Warrior" won't earn you a license!