A tennis ball rises gently into the air, suspended for a brief moment before the server’s racket crashes down and sends it hurtling forward with purpose. That quiet pause, those few seconds of weightless anticipation, mirror the rhythm of our own lives. We all experience seasons when we feel lifted, held, or suspended between what was and what will be. In our space, nothing dramatic is happening, yet everything important is forming around us. We are in the midst of being called!
The ball does not resist its ascent. It doesn’t fear the coming impact. It simply rises, trusting the motion that placed it there. In life, we often struggle with these rising moments; times of preparation, waiting, or uncertainty. We want the serve, the breakthrough, the momentum. But the rise is essential. It positions us. It aligns us. It gives us the height needed for what comes next.
Then comes the strike. Powerful, decisive, unavoidable. The moment of impact is where we are “chosen” for a mission, direction is set by someone else and our potential is set in motion. For us, these are the defining experiences; challenges, opportunities, losses, promotions, revelations. They can feel jarring, even overwhelming, but they are the very moments that propel us forward. Without the strike, the ball would simply fall back to the ground. Without life’s impacts, we would never discover our strength, our resilience, or our calling.
What matters most is what happens after the strike. The ball doesn’t choose its direction, but we can and should. We can take the energy of life’s impact and turn it into progress; redirect it in some cases. We can convert pressure into purpose. We can transform disruption into destiny. Every serve in tennis is designed to win a point; every challenge in life can be shaped to advance our personal growth.
So, when you feel yourself rising slowly and at peace, embrace it. When you feel life strike, you might have no other option but to go with the flow. And when you are launched forward, decide to move with intention. We are not meant to stay grounded in the same place, personally, professionally or spiritually. We are meant to rise, to be directed, and to soar with purpose. Life will lift you; life will strike you, and life will send you forward. Trust each stage. Each one is part of your becoming who God meant you to be.
If this is my last post, I want all to know there was only one purpose for all that I have written; to have made a positive difference in the lives of others.
Anthony “Tony” Boquet, Solutionary, author of “The Bloodline of Wisdom, The Awakening of a Modern Solutionary” and “The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, A Devotional Timeline”