I find myself in a lot of bad places on the tennis courts. Double faults. Overheads into the net. Practices that do not translate into game play. And being at the bad end of match point, love-40.
Can a Biblical perspective on life help to cope with the bad places in tennis? Can a Biblical perspective soften the frustrations in life that lead to the equivalent of slamming your racket into the court like Nick Kyrgios in the above photo? It can, when your perspective is one of abundance, not scarcity.
The word “abundant” in the New Testament means exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more, a quantity so abundant as to be considerably more than what one would expect or anticipate. Search for abundance in the Bible and you will discover words such as these:
“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land…where you will lack nothing…” Deuteronomy 8
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
Psalm 23:1
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—“
1 Corinthians 2:9
“And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
2 Corinthians 9:8
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10
As Rev. Patsy at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Stuart FL preached, we have been blessed with good and plenty—an abundance of abundance—so that, regardless of what happens on the tennis courts, we have something much greater to enjoy and celebrate.
