When I heard the news that Stephen Curry will miss at least two weeks due to his MCL sprain in his right knee, I was hurting for him. I’ll be honest. I can’t really say that I’m a die-hard Golden State fan. I haven’t had a favorite player since A.I retired. But I really like Steph. So I really hated to see him go down like that, especially when I heard the reason why he slipped and sprained his knee.
A Wet Spot
That’s right! It was because of a wet spot on the floor. Someone wasn’t on the job. The towel boy did not do what he was supposed to do.
As I was thinking about Steph and how this situation knocked him out of commission for a while, I started thinking about you and me and how often times we run into “wet spots” in the game of life. And just like Steph, sometimes we run into these spots unintentionally.
Think about it. He was playing his game. He was doing his part. He was doing what he was supposed to be doing. And then boom. It happened. Life happened. It was totally out of his control. He was blindsided by a wet spot on the floor that knocked him out for two weeks.
Have you ever been there?
You’re doing you’re thing. You’re working hard. You’re praying. You’re reading your Bible. Going to church. Giving to God. Helping other people. And then all of a sudden…BOOM! Life happens. You lose your job. Your car breaks down. You fail a class that you just knew you would pass. You have a death in the family. Your girlfriend cheats on you when you've been nothing but faithful. Or your boyfriend cheats on you and you've been nothing but loyal. Your child gets sick, really sick. You have a death in the family. Your child goes astray when all you’ve taught them was the right way!
I don't know what your wet spot has been in life but I do know that we all have them. They cause us to slip and fall down. We get injured physically, emotionally, spiritually. To borrow a phrase from Jesus, "I tell you the truth," those dog-on wet spots be getting on my last nerve!
What is a brother or sister to do?
Here is why I believe Steph Curry's injury should should matter to us. It should matter because it teaches us what to do when we run into a wet spot in life and we're trying to figure out what to do next.
Make A Proper Evaluation of The Situation
I followed the Steph Curry situation and the first thing I heard reporters say that his team was going to do was to take him into the locker room and evaluate his injury right away. I think this is super important for us because a lot of times we delay the evaluation and it makes things worse. In other words, when you slip and fall on wet spot in life, it is critical that you evaluate that situation while it is still fresh on your mind.
But here is where it gets deeper. They did an evaluation of his knee immediately but they performed a more thorough evaluation within the next 72 hours. The point is that in order to get to the root of matters we have to dig deeper and not settle for the obvious answers that are often on the surface. We need to go deeper. This is where you should be asking questions like:
Why did this happen? (Why did he/she cheat on me? Why did I lose my job? Why did I fail that class? Why did I blow all my money? Etc.)
Did I bring this upon myself?
Is there anything that I could have done to prevent this from happening?
What do I need to do to bounce back from this situation?
What measures am I going to take to prevent this situation from happening again?
And how I can I be of help to others so they can avoid this wet spot?
Use The Negative Situation As Positive Motivation
Please always remember that just because you have fallen that does not make you’re a failure. As a matter of fact, one of my favorite Scriptures in the Bible is found in Proverbs chapter 24 verse 16 speaks to this point. Here is what it says, "though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again." Even the best of us will fall sometimes.
Think of the most holy, church-going, Bible-toting, Scripture-quoting, go-to-church-every-day-of-the-week, goody-two-shoe Christians you know. Guess what? Ten times out of ten, they too have fallen. But that's not all the verse says. It also says, "they rise again." Curry fell down but he did not stay down. He got up and walked. So did Kobe. Lebron. Durant. Wade. And every other superstar athlete I have ever seen play. They often used their injuries that could have set them back, as motivation for their comeback.
Curry slipped and fell down. But he got up. And he walked. And he is considering playing in their next game because he is ready to make his comeback. And that's what I want to encourage you to do. You may have run into a wet spot in your life recently or a while ago and it has knocked you down. But you don't have to stay down. After proper evaluation of the situation, use it as positive motivation.
Rise up, my friend and get back in the game. Your team is counting on you.
Question: How do you respond to the slips and falls you experience in life? What steps do you take to bounce back? (share below)