Be a Worm for Jesus

Greetings in the Lord!

Today I will share with you a word/story from when I played a basketball season in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was so excited to be playing in the US; however, the Lord had also prepared me that the people I was being sent to prophesy to were a very "rebellious and obstinate people." Indeed they were!

From the first meeting with my team and coach, it was obvious to me that several of my teammates--and my coach--had been biten by the "green bug" of envy, with a suitcase-full of jealousy to boot, when they talked with me about my overseas experiences. Actually, I could feel the spirits of jealousy and envy in them when they were just looking at me! So, I tried to avoid talking too much about anything and set my mind to come in and work hard each day, just minding my business.

But of course, the light of Christ in me must have been very disturbing for them and they wasted no time in trying to make my life miserable. After a month of enduring this, and with four wins under our belt to fuel our coach's arrogance even more, the Lord gave me a word for the coach that we would not win another game all season. The Lord had arranged the opportunity for me to tell the coach privately, after he had been gloating for 2 weeks about the wins. Now my coach was a self-proclaimed Baptist pastor, so he enjoyed to talk the talk of Christianity and gave me a moment to share with him the word. However, he would not accept this word and despised me all the more.

Then, as we lost game after game, I watched as my coach went from being hostile and arrogant to cowardly and desperate. He incited several of my teammates to act even worse to me and hired an "assistant coach" to treat me terribly to make me want to leave the team. I did want to leave, but the Lord would not let me. Instead, He kept saying, "Do not fear them; trust in me." It was the longest four months of my career and it left me baffled about God and His ways. Why did He want me to endure so much? It was painful for everyone to see, and everyone d losing every game, too.

Finally, there was "breakthrough." Two starting players, both of whom had strongholds of jealousy and envy in their lives (and had been cohorts with the coach), broke away from the influence of these spirits by the grace of Jesus Christ. They recognized the sin of their behavior and even rebuked the coach in front of the team! The Lord had let them treat me like a worm to catch these fish for Him! Only God could do something so amazing.

~Be blessed and be a blessing.

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