Proving Grounds

When I was a senior, I broke my arm during the first basketball contest of the season. Over the next several weeks, I was relegated to a support role in practice and reluctantly became the official stats record keeper during the games. After what felt like an eternity of waiting in the shadows, I was eventually cleared to play. However, I found that my starting point guard position had been replaced by a freshman, and my individual performance was never the same.  

During those difficult circumstances, God was guiding me where I found my identity and how to participate in community when I was no longer in the spotlight. Recently, I was reminded of this difficult season when listening to a guest missionary speaker. Reflecting on entering the last years of his ministry, he remarked how he has learned that “he has less to prove and more to offer.” I quickly took note of this comment, wanting to reflect more on God’s design. 

So often in my life, I have focused too much on proving myself. Whether to impress others or feed my ego, this is a common pitfall many of us may experience. I do understand there may be periodic times when we need to prove something to ourselves. God has indeed prepared good works for us to walk in daily through His unearned grace. He equips those He calls, and through both failure and success we can affirm His design on our life. 

As we mature as believers, these proving grounds should become less frequent as our trust in God’s provision increases. Many of us struggle or misunderstand Jesus’ command to “turn the other cheek.” Turning the other cheek comes from a position of strength, not weakness. When there is nothing left to prove, all that remains is what we have to offer with eagerness. While offering the other cheek can literally be uncomfortable at times, it’s often how the gospel becomes alive in us for others to see.

Jesus not only taught this principle, He lived it! Jesus had nothing to prove…only His life to offer. In the same way, as redeemed and adopted children of God, we have little to prove. We know that we are broken, but redeemed, “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”  Since Jesus has already proved it all to the entire world, we simply get to offer His life through ours to others!