Form, function and mechanics

I went to my weight watchers meeting last night. Got on the scale and was so excited when I had last weight. Not very much, but it went down. I was thrilled. I was nervous when I got there. I pay to hear what I should eat and how much, and then I let someone else weigh me. Of course I want to be successful. But this morning I realized that last week when I went, I wasn’t nervous. What was the difference in the two weeks? The first week I had done everything the way I was supposed to. The second week, I knew I hadn’t. Weight watchers is pretty flexible. It’s not really restrictive. If I just follow what I know I’m supposed to do, I will see results, I don’t stress, I don’t worry.
This made me think of sports training. Whitney’s volleyball team is taught how to do things the right way. They practice fundamentals. Do things right and the points will come. This way, when the game is on the line and you get the ball set to you, your approach is perfect, without thinking about it. Both arms in the air, and you get the ball down for the kill. You just do it naturally. Her coach’s would rather her team do it right and lose the point then to do it wrong and win.
This applies to the rest of my life as well. Newspring Church had a sermon in our Dreams series, which was based on Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. The back story is that the Israelites were in captivity, and God told them to build houses, plant crops, find mates for their grandchildren. They were going to be in captivity for a long time. While they were in captivity, they were to function. Personally at the time, I found this discouraging. I don’t want to just function. I want to do great things. I realized today though, that there is a lot of victory to be found in functioning. And if we function to the best of our ability, we are more prepared when opportunities arise.
Another sports illustration, last year in our high school regional baseball tournament, my son’s team was down by one run in the bottom of the 9th inning. We had two runners on, second and third base. Two outs and the nine hole batter at the plate. In an elimination game. Worst possible scenario. The batter hit a blooper to shallow left field commonly referred to as “no man’s land and didn’t watch the ball or the other two runners, he ran as hard as could to first (he is really slow). He got to first base and then looked to see what had happened, because he could hear his fans cheering. The runners on second and third had followed their training and mechanics, and had their secondary lead and both had scored. The batter had followed his training and mechanics and had put the ball in play and was safe at first. The opposing team, two players had followed their training and mechanics, and were where they were supposed to be. Left fielder called the ball; third baseman backed off but was close enough to back him up. Perfect situation for them, they should have had the game won with a routine catch. Their shortstop didn’t follow his training, and ran into the left fielder, two players on the ground and no one caught the ball, no time to make a play at first, and the team that just functioned won the game.
I want to function in my life so that when the hard things come, I have trained and prepared and functioned in a way that makes it natural to do what needs to be done. Don’t have to think about it, no nerves, just function. I don’t see that as a negative anymore. It doesn’t mean God has put me in captivity and this is the best I can hope for. Maybe, just maybe, as when Esther was in captivity in Persia and became queen, it’s “for such a time as this”.
When the games on the line I may not be at bat, heck I probably won’t even be in the game. Most likely I will be sitting in the stands cheering at the top of my lungs. But where ever God puts me I want to function and work on my mechanics. I want to perfect my form. I want to do the right thing without even thinking about it.