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“I wanted to see something great.”

WARNING: The following post features very graphic images. They are never used gratuitously and are essential to the point. But the shocking and jarring nature of this article could reopen some wounds and repeat the trauma of the NBA Finals to Golden State Warriors fans. My apologies.

In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Lebron James performed yet another feat that proved that he truly is the greatest player currently playing in the NBA. In the 3rd quarter, he stole a pass and got bumped by Steph Curry. He stumbled to the floor and picked himself up without losing his dribble. He looked up and passed the ball ahead to Kyrie Irving.

Irving took a few dribbles than lobbed it to Lebron for an alley oop but the pass was completely off the mark – much too high and too far to the right. Lebron picked up his speed, launched himself above the hapless Klay Thompson, and stretched out his right arm catching the errant ball. Incredibly, he slammed it through the ring, even as he was drifting away. The game was over even in the third quarter.

lebron-oop-dunk (1)

Reporters asked Kyrie Irving why he made such a bad pass to Lebron. His response was telling:

“I threw it very, very — you know, some people may say it’s a bad pass, but I wanted to see something great, and for him to do that, it was awesome. It was awesome.”

Kyrie threw a bad pass because he wanted to see something great. He wasn’t interested in a gentle lob. He was throwing an off target fastball of a pass knowing that Lebron had the speed, strength, and jumping ability to slam it home anyway. The impossibility of the pass only made the play greater.

In other words, Kyrie has faith in Lebron.

These words challenged me. If Kyrie has that much faith in Lebron James’ abilities, how much more should I believe in the abilities of my God? Lebron may be an expert on impossible shots, but God has delivered consistently on even greater impossible situations.

Prayer is like an alley oop to God. We’re just throwing it out there; He’s the one who slams it home. We get to participate and witness something great. So let’s throw Him the biggest prayers we can. He’ll deliver.

  • Let’s share the Gospel to seemingly impossible people, because we want to see something great: a changed life.
  • Let’s pray for miraculous healing, provision, and restoration of relationships, because God wants to do great things for His people.
  • Let’s believe that institutionalized poverty can be eradicated in our nation, because when God does that we will be privileged to witness something awesome.

Let’s live everyday expecting God to do great things in our everyday impossibilities.

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