Playing cornerback in football requires some of the highest maturity of any position in sports. In a game where the opposing receiver has many advantages, the cornerback covering him will inevitably fail from time to time - and in a visible way. Mature cornerbacks have a "short memory," meaning they can forget the past failure (or success, for that matter) and focus on the upcoming play.
I'm passionate about the Texas Longhorns. One of my favorite all-time Longhorns is Jahdae Barron, who played cornerback and similar roles in the defense. When asked about his ability to forget and overcome mistakes, Barron said this:
"I told myself every single day I woke up, and I wrote it on my mirror, 'Can I be committed to the process of what I'm doing without emotionally being attached to the result of what I'm doing?' So when things wouldn't go my way. . .could I still lock back in and see the bigger picture?"
Forget football; that's a life approach!
We must deal with ups and downs, successes and failures, happy moments and sad times in life. We can get frustrated with how our lives are going, how our relationships are going, how our expectations are met, how the world around us is unfolding.
As Christians, we need to step back and see the bigger picture of life under God's care. We have faith that in the long run, God wins - not only in the revelation of God's kingdom, but in what is in store for our lives on earth and beyond. We must commit to God's process without becoming emotionally attached to individual results along the way.
I feel this as the founder of Cecil Taylor Ministries. It's easy to get sidetracked by the success or failure of this day or this result or this initiative. The big picture is that I'm doing life with God, working side by side with God, and letting the Lord ultimately lead the way instead of me. When I have that mindset of locking back in, I can go forward faithfully, content with whatever happens.
Then I map that into other parts of my life: my relationships, my aspirations for my adult children, my hopes for my church, my concerns for my community and the world, and so on. I need to continue to commit to God's process for how to live life, as taught by Christ Jesus.
Let each of us understand and commit to God's process, removing the emotion we attach to each result, good or bad, so that we can keep moving forward in faith.
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