Reset!

In a recent pickleball clinic the coach told us that we if we found ourselves at the kitchen line “banging” with our opponents (meaning, a fast exchange) and losing control of the point, we needed to reset. In all racket sports, this word is important. In tennis, it might mean hitting a defensive lob or a looping deep shot to the backhand. The goal is to get back in the point with the opportunity to go from defense to offense.

In our spiritual lives, God invites us to reset – an act that entails repentance and humility. According to most 12-step programs, resetting means asking God for daily strength – without concern for tomorrow until tomorrow becomes today.

That is the beauty of the Christian faith. Psalm 103 says that the Lord is merciful and slow to anger, and removes our sin as far as the east is from the west. The apostle John says, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But our daily resetting means we need to surrender our will to God and acknowledge that we have lost control.

When my son was four years old, he was diagnosed with type one diabetes. And being one who likes to over-control her world, I tried to manage his every blood sugar reading – basically to take on the role of his failing pancreas. This was in the early days of diabetes management – before the pump, the patch, the various apps. I studiously monitored Jared’s level of exercise, the exact carb content of each meal and snack, the ratio of different insulins, long acting and immediate; I meticulously loaded each syringe, and pricked little finger pads 8 to 10 times a day . But so often I would end up in tears because his blood sugars could go from 50 to the 350 for reasons I could not explain and in spite of my vigilance. But that season of life caused me to be in constant conversation with God, relinquishing my will to his and praying over syringes and finger pokes and worry. Resetting was ongoing and daily.

Are you resetting with God? Are you in conversation with your Creator? Have you come to the “end of yourself”?

I am currently in sunny Florida, with its picturesque palm trees and its cloudless blue skies, and yes, its obsession with pickleball. Yet none of these good gifts bring the happiness they portend. Folks here can be just as depressed as those in the frigid north. Peace is elusive apart from a dependent and vibrant relationship with God.

So today, which is all we have, let us reset our souls and relinquish control. There lies perfect peace – even in the face of variant blood sugars or a lost exchange at the pickleball’s kitchen line.