Sometimes life is like a crazy baseball game. It seems like the bottom of the ninth and the bases are loaded while your team is down by one point. One team is rooting you on, hoping and praying that you will hit the ball beyond the opposition’s reach and lead them to victory. The other is counting on you to make a mistake so your team can leave the field in defeat. You’ve watched the entire game to see what the pitcher’s style is; you’ve stepped into the the prep-box for some practice swings as you watch the pitcher, then it’s your turn. You must keep your eye on the ball because you don’t know how the pitcher is going to throw the ball, then it’s decision time. Should you bunt? Should you power hit the ball? Should you not even swing? What to do?! In the mean time you hear your coach shouting above the crowd, “I know you can do it! Just keep your eye on the ball and listen to me.” Your coach has thought carefully about the batting line up so that the right person will be up to bat at the right time; and now for some reason during this most stressful and important time it is you who are up to bat.
It’s easy to find yourself in a predicament like that- it’s the toughest situation you’ve ever been in and you have so many people counting on you, yet you have so many people wanting to see you fail. When you feel so overwhelmed and you don’t know how to bat or even if you should swing, watch the ball and listen for the coach. You have to keep your eye on the enemy, he has all kinds of tricks up his sleve; just when you think you’ve learned his routine he throws you a curve ball. You also have to keep your ears open to listen to Jesus and do whatever he says to do. He is our one true source of strength and he knows what you’re going to do before you do it, but it’s His willingness to let you bat and make the decision for yourself on how to swing that makes His grace so awesome. It’s also our duty as christians to be prepared for whatever the enemy throws our way. We do that through prayer and the reading of God’s word; the closer we get to God the more discernment He will grant us to know when the enemy is fixing to throw something crazy our way.
Often times it’s hard to understand why the “coach” has us “up to bat” during such a time. The Bible says that these stressful and trying times are to make us more like Christ. In Malachi 3 God is refered to as a silversmith. He puts the silver through the heat to purify it and to bring all the imperfections to the surface so that He can take the imperfections out of the silver. The silversmith tempers the heat to makes sure that it’s not too hot or too cold for the silver, but just right. The one true way that he knows when the silver is pure is when he can see his direct flawless reflection in it. When it’s our turn to step into the batter’s box, God turns up the heat because it’s Him who should shine through us.
In short, God is just trying make us more like Him so that He can get the glory for it all. So the next time that you are up to bat remember, listen for the coach, watch the pitcher, and most of all rest in knowing that you have been chosen for this specific time.
In His Love,
Mimi
