How Uncommon Glory Becomes Common

In my Daily GPS* this morning, several things were swirling around in my mind. The main emphasis I want to share with you was brought home by the scripture I was led to. If you're doing the Daily GPS, you know that when you get to the scripture, you close your eyes, open your scriptures, feel what page is correct, point to a section on the page, and then open your eyes. That scripture is what you focus on for that day. Sometimes your scripture is confirmation of what you've already received. Sometimes the scripture will give you instructions on what to do next.  Today it was one of those confirming or a second witness for me. 

* Click here for a free Starter Kit to learn more about the Daily GPS: https://mentoring.wylenebenson.com/daily-gps-masterclass )  

Let me  rewind a little bit, even before I get up in the morning. I woke up…you've heard me say this before…when you're between that state of sleep and awake, your mind is at rest, but starting to wake up. I think that is a very good time when God can talk to us. Be aware that those thoughts that come to you in that limbo state usually have significance. Write down what you see or think immediately and get into your Daily GPS ASAP so that you can get a continuation of what God is showing you.

I had three specific memories come to me; these all related to sports. I played sports from the time I was probably 12 or 13 until I had my second baby. in my mid thirties.  I want to clarify that I was not an amazing athlete. The first memory that came to me, proves that. It was a glory moment for me, because it was such a rare occurrence.  This was when I was 13 years old. I had  started learning to play softball.  It was during a softball game.  At the time, I wasn't good at all. I did get really good at softball later. But I was just beginning. I got put out into the right field.  If you have involved yourself in sports, you know the right field is for the players who can't catch. I could throw pretty well. I was not very good at catching because I feared the ball. I was out in the right field; my team was down by one. It was the ninth inning. We were trying to get the other team out so we could get our last ups, hopefully, on base and get a couple of runs to win the game.

The game was super close. We were looking for that third out. There was a popup fly that came towards me in the right field. I can see it coming. My heart is pounding. I am thinking, “Oh, Crap.” I know how important it is for us to get this last out. If I miss it, chances are the person will advance, get another run, and we will be down even more. I know I have to do something, so I  put my glove up, close my eyes, and the ball falls in my mitt, miraculously. 

I remember bringing my arm down, looking inside the glove, and the ball was still there. I was shocked. My team was shocked. Then I heard the fantastic roar of cheers from the stands and my team. Everybody ran over and tackled me. We had gotten that third out; we could go in and win the game.  That was one of my glory moments in sports.  It was not typical of me. My team knew that too. They were excited that I had caught the ball. I'm sure they all knew it wasn't me who noticed that ball. Everything worked together. The ball came in the right place at the right time. All I did was hold my glove up. All things worked together for this to come out to be a really good experience. 

There was another time when I was in high school. I did play sports in high school, volleyball and basketball. I was in a volleyball game for the State Championship. Interesting…I just realized all three of these experiences I’m sharing today are from championship games…interesting. I hadn't thought of that. State championship. Wow. I never even put that together. All three of these experiences were during a moment that mattered. 

Okay, back to the volleyball experience. I was tall, and I played the front line. The front line does the blocking, the setting, and the hitting (spiking.) That was my territory.  We were in a State Championship. There was a girl on the other team that was a monster hitter. Her team would set it up for her, and she would hit the ball, and it was like a gunshot…hard and fast; she kept getting balls past us. Nobody could return them.  They were getting the point after point, which looked bleak for us. All her spikes were getting through our blockers. Until…one time, I jumped up, and my arms were like iron bars. The ball bounced off and went out of bounds in the back of the gym. The ball bounced back that hard.  I came down from the block. The hitter had a look of total shock on her face. Everyone came and hugged me, and they were amazed that I could block this girl's spike. Again, at that moment, that was not me. Nobody on my team had been able to stop her hits. But from that moment on, our team’s morale was boosted, and we were suddenly able to block and return her hits. It caused a feeling of faith, belief, and hope that maybe we have a chance.  It was because of my block. Again, it wasn't me. I couldn't have done it if I had been relying on my strength. 

The third experience was, again, a State Championship. We didn't win this time. This was the final game of the State Championship. It was the final six seconds.  It was my senior year. I had been sitting on the bench. She put me in for the final six seconds. We were losing by, I don't know, 40 points or something like that. It was ridiculous to think that we might even be able to score. With six seconds left and 40 points down, no way we were going to win. But there was an opportunity to give it my all, with no fear for six seconds. There was a girl that was constantly doing these fast break lay-ups. She would charge down to her team’s basket, and no one could keep up with her. That’s how they were so far ahead.  I was fresh from the bench, not tired out. She got the ball. I sprinted because we'd been watching her the whole game, so I knew what would happen. I got to the hoop about the same time as she did. I was half a second ahead of her.

I jumped up…now I'm not a super amazing vertical jumper…but this time, as I jumped and she laid the ball up, I grabbed it after it released from her hands. I jumped nearly as high as the hoop, grabbed the ball out of the air, and brought it down. Imagine a pro basketball player jumping up and holding the ball before it goes into the basket. That is what I must have looked like. The lay-up star even complimented me on the steal later. Everybody on my team came running over as the buzzer sounded, cheering and hugging me.  It was such a fantastic glory moment. And it wasn't me. 

There's absolutely no way that I could have made that vertical jump.  I wasn't that amazing of a basketball player. I was the vessel God used to create a memorable experience for everyone. On the bus ride home, that final second steal was all anybody talked about. It wasn't the down feeling you might think after losing a state championship game by 40 points. It was the reliving of how we stopped that last basket.  

All of these were moments where I was made to be more myself than was humanly possible for me with capability. These miraculous memorable moments happen all the time. But we don't always recognize it.  I hadn't even really put all these things together until this morning. 

The scripture that I was led to is Joshua 6:20-21. When I share this scripture, you'll see how perfectly it fits with my shared memories. It was the story of Joshua when he was marching around the walls of Jericho. Finally, after marching around three times, they blew their trumpets, and the walls crumbled. Now for Joshua, this was a glorious moment. It was a glorious moment!  But it wasn't Joshua. Joshua was not an engineer. He didn't know; he wasn't the one who built the walls. He didn’t have the mathematical know-how to say, “Okay, if we add this, subtract this, and then walk sound the walls and blow this hard, then these walls will come crumbling down.

He didn't know that. He probably was a fantastic war strategist, but at that moment, he wasn't; it wasn't his strategy; it was God's strategy. We get these exponentially amazing results if we rely on God's plan. We become more than we can be on our own. As a human, we can have superhuman abilities. But it is not to glorify me. It's not a glory moment that I look back on and say, “Wow, I was amazing back then.” I had a glory moment that I can reflect on and say, “Wow, God made me more than what I am. For me to be so much more than I can be on my own, it must be God.” 

My glory moments were to boost morale to help people to go away feeling successful whether they won the game or not. God has this bigger plan. If it's His wish, His desire, or His will that something happens, we can be the catalyst for it to be a reality. If we are willing to be the matter that He uses to create, He can make amazing things through us. I didn't block that volleyball spike. I missed that softball. I didn't jump two feet in the air to grab a lay-up on its way to the hoop. That was God; God and I worked together for all things to work together for good. As you go through the holidays this year, I know there will be opportunities for us to lift and help people to have an even better experience than they could in normal circumstances.  It's not going to be something we plan. It will not be because we used all our efforts to create that perfect memorable moment. It will be us as a normal humans, partnering with God. If we allow Him to make us more than we can be, He can do extraordinary things through us.  

Today, be open for God to bring to your memory those glorious moments so memorable that we wonder how they happened. Maybe a memory comes today, or you just begin watching for it throughout the holidays this year. There are times when synergistic things happen that produce a lift in morale, a lift in spirit, a lift in energy, so much that you have to say it’s remarkable, a moment you will never forget. But, first, realize it’s happening because someone is partnering with God. Then recognize and thank God for the opportunity to witness it.