Part Deuce: The Continuation Rule

In the NBA there is something called ‘the continuation rule’. It refers to an offensive player who is fouled by the defense in the process of shooting and making that basket without stopping his motion or intention of shooting(also known as the James Harden rule, for any basketball gurus out there).  I am not writing this to analyze the rule but found it pertinent to my recent encounters with the Father.  The word continuation is defined as ‘the action of carrying something on over a period of time or the process of being carried on’.  After my most recent post I had a lot of great feedback from my peers and family. And as great as that is and most appreciated, I found my heart still longing for more…continuously. I was chatting to a close friend about this recently and I recalled that a day or so after my encounter I heard God say this: ‘There is more.  That wasn’t the end.’  As you can imagine, my mouth dropped. My heart leapt.  But mostly my spirit surged.

…and now 5 days have passed by.  I swear I closed my eyes last night and woke up a week later.  Overall, I’ve been in this passionate pursuit of God for more than a decade now, and to me that’s saying something because I still consider myself on the young end of the spectrum in life at an age of 31.  But if there is one thing I have learned in these past 10 years it’s that this ‘pursuit’ is quite often not very passionate, rather sometimes lackluster or nonchalant.  I think one of the reasons God spoke to me in the way He did and showed me the campfire is to remind me that He is right beside my heart ALWAYS.  At the highest of highs, the lowest of lows, and most definitely during the mediocre and mundane times.  You see, most of our lives on the roller coaster are not lived in the extremes; instead, we can more likely be found in the cruising and coasting.  And to some that may sound boring, but it’s a reality.  All the more reason to heed this word right now: God is still God in the normality of life.  He is still Lord of my day, even if the greatest thing I get to do is take out the recycling bin or fill up my gas tank.  The reason I felt it pertinent to call this the ‘Continuation Rule’ is because sometimes God speaks to our hearts in a powerful, meaningful way and we get so excited and so moved…for about 2 seconds and then it passes.  And you know what? Sometimes, that’s perfectly normal.  Personally, I find that the few days after a life altering experience or an epic time with Father I lean towards complacency.  Confession: I am human.

Ultimately, we live in an extremely performance driven culture.  Our every action and decision is measured by some invisible yardstick, continually causing us to second guess if we ‘measure up’ to the standard human being.  I pray that if you are reading this, you take a moment and shake off those baggages.  God, in His infinite creativity, has created each of us to flourish and blossom into our own portraits of life.  No culture can restrain what God intended to design. This is a little off topic, but for a long time I felt caged in and contained to a certain way of life.  And then an amazing woman of God prophesied over me to allow the inner ‘wild man’ in me to break free.  In the moment I wasn’t sure how to take that, but now every year that goes by I sense a little more of that call of the wild coming back to me.  In essence, what I am trying to say is that you were created to be one thing: a reflection of the Father.  You were chosen to be one tiny facet of the depth of His being.  Now it’s time to live like it, and the only way to do that is to experience His freedom.

And now, as in basketball, the rule of continuation must be applied here.  We’ve experienced some sort of impact over the last few weeks, in some shape or form…but we must keep our eyes intent on Him.  In order for us to grow and develop ourselves we need to step back and analyze our lives at this moment in time.  What is God speaking?  Having trouble hearing Him (like myself, about 99% of the time)?  Just because we don’t have these answers and may be struggling, God still wants to go on a journey with you…and me.  Especially me, because I’m his favorite.  But so are you.  He is so incredibly fond of each of us and that in itself is the driver for continuing on in His goodness.  So I return to the original definition of continuation:

Notice anything unique?  It, in my opinion, is a two-edged sword.  It requires 2 to tango.  This life requires a call to action: carry on for a period of time.  Continue in the faith we have been received.  And in return I believe we will be equally carried by our Father, because let’s be honest: who didn’t love piggyback rides from their Daddy?

Colossians 1.22-23 “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”