A Final Word: Rebounding in Life

Over the past 30 years, one of the highlights of my ministry has been serving as the chaplain for the NBA Dallas Mavericks. If you’ve ever been to a professional basketball game, you know that each minute is filled with energy, sweat, determination, and the finest of athletic skill. Teams battle for the prize of being declared that night’s victor. Players run, fake, shoot, and block in an effort to get a ball through a rim as many times as possible.

One element of the game that makes basketball so intriguing is the rebound. A rebound occurs anytime there is a missed shot or a missed free throw. In the case of an offensive rebound, anyone on the offense grabs the ball after it bounces off the rim and puts it up again or runs another play. Rather than giving up possession of the ball, a rebound retains possession, giving the offense another chance to score.

If the game of basketball didn’t have the option of the rebound, it would slow down considerably. The pressure underneath the basket would greatly diminish. And missed shots would be all the more painful to swallow. Rebounds allow the players to take a bad situation and make it good again.

What a rebound does in the game of basketball, God does in the game of life by giving another chance after a failed attempt. A rebound is a do-over. It proves that even in life, it’s not too late to try again.

Over the previous eight chapters, you and I have experienced the ups and downs of those who made a rebound. We’ve seen a murderer become a deliverer. We’ve seen a harlot end up in the messianic line. We’ve seen a trickster turn into a patriarch, a rebel into an evangelist, and a diva into a deliverer. We’ve seen a traitor triumph over his fears, a player deal the last hand, and a doubter ushered into the Hall of Faith through her belief in God’s promise of a son.

Each of these individuals could have given up when things looked bad. Each could have walked away. Each could have thrown in the towel, sat down on the bench, or just plain quit. But none did. Instead, each took a difficult situation and tried again—this time with faith. And as a result of their faith, they all ended up scoring with nothing but net.

In the Christian life, just as in basketball, a missed shot does not mean the game is over. If there is still time left on the clock (and we know there is because you are still here), it’s not too late for a rebound.

But you need to keep in mind what every good basketball player knows as well—in order to get a rebound, you need to position yourself in the vicinity of the basket. You can’t be on the other side of the court, in the stands, or in the parking lot and expect to grab the rebound. Neither can you, as a believer in Jesus Christ, be removed from a close and abiding relationship with Him and expect to experience His divine restoration to your situation.

As famed NBA rebounder Larry Byrd has said, “Most rebounds are taken below the rim. That’s where I get mine.” Knowing this, Byrd intentionally positions himself near the rim because the key to a successful rebound is to be where you can move forward once you grab the ball. Likewise, the key to a successful rebound in the Christian life is to position yourself underneath the comprehensive rule of God. When you align yourself with God’s rule—what I refer to as God’s kingdom agenda—you are in the best position for your rebound.

Maybe you’re thinking this principle will work for others but not for you. “If I were Larry Byrd, I could rebound too.” It’s true that Larry Byrd may have an advantage over most of us when rebounding a basketball. And some people may have an advantage over you in rebounding from life’s situations because they may not have experienced the depth of your pain, shame, or disappointments.

I’m not going to diminish what you’ve gone through, what you have done, or what you may be up against. Neither am I going to deny that getting a rebound is a lot easier for someone like Larry Byrd than it is for someone like you or me. But let me direct your attention to someone else. He is someone I have had the thrill of watching on the Mavericks team over the past several years, someone whose hope and tenacity should be a model for our own.

His name is Jason Kidd. If you don’t follow basketball closely, you may not have heard of him. If you were to run into the Mavericks team at a restaurant or an event, you may even miss seeing him altogether. After all, most of the players tower over Kidd causing him to appear somewhat like his name—a kid. At his height and weight, Kidd can disappear next to the Mavericks’ giants, like Dirk Nowitzki, who stand at seven feet.

But don’t let Kidd’s size fool you. In his rookie year in 1994, he rallied the Mavericks from the worst record in the league the year before to the best improvement in the NBA for that year. And even though he played on a team with a losing record, Kidd still managed to tie for the NBA Rookie of the Year with Grant Hill of the Pistons.

A decade later, and having been traded to the New York Nets, Kidd was credited with having resurrected the nearly dead Nets with one of the greatest turnarounds in NBA history. His first year with the Nets, Kidd led them to their first-ever showing in the NBA finals.

Fast-forward a few more years, and Kidd has come back home to the Mavericks. A consistent player in all arenas, Kidd didn’t let what many would consider a disadvantage—his lack of height—stop him from not only grabbing multiple rebounds but also scoring with them. In fact, Kidd has more than 7,000 rebounds. He’s the only player in NBA history with the combined record of more than 15,000 points, 10,000 assists, and 7,000 rebounds. Did you catch that? The short Kidd holds a very tall record. Translation: You don’t have to be a Byrd to fly. You just have to believe, position yourself, and never cease to try.

God has a million ways to hit a bull’s eye with a crooked stick, or like Kidd recently did, make a 75-foot shot with only seconds left in the game—on a rebound.

Friend, if you hear nothing else from our time together in these pages, hear this: It’s not too late. Don’t let your circumstances, where you have been, what you have done, who has done what to you, or what you are up against dictate the final outcome of your game. Rather, let the One who can make all things brand-new position you underneath the covering of His overarching rule.

You will rebound there. You will score. You will live the life that God has in store. Not because of you and the great things you have done, but because of the faith you have placed in His Son.

Have you missed a shot—or two, or three, or ten? Last time I checked, the game is still on. Grab your rebound. It’s not too late for you to win.