FREE THROW ANXIETY

I’ll never forget it. Refereeing a basketball game, I handed the ball off to an eight-year-old little guy who had to take two free throws to send the game into overtime. He had to make both of them. Well little Johnny stood at that free throw line at eight years old and his knees began to wobble and all of a sudden he dropped the ball and began to cry. What happened to little Johnny? Why did he fold up like that? You know Proverbs 12:25 says this: Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad. If only little Johnny had known that the Lord Jesus Christ loved him with all of His heart, he wouldn’t have had to worry about missing that shot and being the goat of the game…or thinking that if he makes the shot he’ll be the hero. He didn’t have to think like that at all. He could have offered that shot to the Lord Jesus Christ and taken an anxiety-free free throw, giving himself the best chance to make the shot. Mom and dad, you may not know anything about a free throw, but you can see anxiety in little Johnny’s heart. How will you address that biblically?