Recently Jeremy Lin shared his annual testimony with Chinese Christians virtually as in-person meetings were impossible due to the coronavirus pandemic.
For the past nine years, the Christian celebrity has talked about how God has been leading in his life and professional basketball career.
On October 3, the famous basketball star mentioned many natural and man-made disasters that occurred in 2020, such as the deaths of celebrities, ethnic conflicts, natural disasters, and the new crown pneumonia. Because of these, a third of all Americans had anxiety and depression, and the number continued to increase this year.
Many people thought Jeremy Lin was arrogant and proud because, at the age of 10, he told his mother that one day he would enter the NBA. Just as he said, Jeremy Lin joined the New York Knicks in 2012 and played well beyond his imagination. At that time, he was called "Linsanity".
However, in the next few years, he experienced many failures and disappointments. Surrounded by negative emotions, he was ashamed and didn't dare to go out. He lost his former glory.
When he signed up for a new team and wanted to start again, he found that he was dominated by fear and disappointment.
So he often felt anxious on the court and couldn’t maintain his confidence even if he scored a basket. He began apologizing, working hard to please others, and compared himself with other players after the game on the video. His teammates could clearly see the fear and other negative thoughts in him.
Fear made him be another person, but he was determined to change this. He began to think about why he was afraid. It was because when he was injured, he thought his dreams were all shattered. Finding it was just a lie, he used Bible verses to encourage himself to break through this bad mood: " The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again;” (Romans 8:15), For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Lin said that he began to coexist with fear and to fight against it. For this reason, he also carried out numerous exercises, such as learning to accept the failed self in the past, forgiving the person who hurt him and letting go of the bad experiences. Every time he found the source of fear, Lin equipped himself with God's words, using new beliefs and confidence to resist fear.
Lin believed that most people experienced three types of fears, one was worry and pessimism, the other doubt, and the third insecurity. To overcome all these fears through God's words, we must believe that God's love lasts forever and gives unexpected peace.
Lin also mentioned that one way to overcome fear was to stop thinking and claim God's promise. He said that the failures and disappointments he had experienced in the past precisely helped him overcome his fear. Jeremy Lin believed that his current state was very good, even better than during the "Lin Lai Mad" period.
In the end, he suggested that no matter what difficulties we faced, we must take the first step and list the things that scare us, and then confront and overcome them one by one. We should know God’s power can help us overcome, and his promises surpass our fears.
-Translated by Abigail Wu
