Fear of the Baseball

Years ago, as a little league baseball coach, it was a great joy to work with young boys wanting to develop their playing skill. That year we had 2 exceptional players. One was a pitcher, and the other a catcher.

Catchers are often overlooked. This player had the uncanny ability to “see the path of the ball”. He simply did not miss a catch! Ironically, at the same time, he had a morbid fear of being hurt if the ball were to hit him. No amount of information relative to all the protective gear he was wearing swayed this young boy’s mind. He was convinced he was going to get hurt. So, why he could catch every throw, he often would not arrive in time to catch the throw due to the overwhelming fear of getting hurt inhibiting his response time.

With the season about 2 weeks away, a plan was devised to help get this player past the fear issue. With the parent’s permission, at practice one day, we tied the player to the back stop. Then the whole team lined up and started throwing baseballs at him. Initially the player had the typical response – stark terror of getting hurt. But then, quickly, he realized the balls were deflecting off of the protective gear and that his fears were baseless. It was a dramatic turning point in the player’s life. (sadly in today’s world this would have resulted in some jail sentence for child abuse!!!-now, common sense approach to problems has been replaced with “no resolution to be found” counseling)

As Christians we are often times the player with false fears. In John 17:11 Jesus, praying to His Father, makes a most remarkable statement: “….I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from the evil one”.

As Christians God has given us everything we need to live victorious in the world. God did this through Jesus from whom we all receive salvation. Jesus is our “protective gear”. We put this protection on, and keep it on, in several ways:

Bible study

Prayer

Attending worship

Fellowshipping with other believers

Not engaging in worldly practices

Etc.

However, we are in need of changing our perspective. We often ask God to keep us from problems. We all want a “rosy life”. We don’t want to get hit by the “baseballs of life”. God has never promised that to anyone. What we should be seeking of God is the provision He has already given to us to “walk through the fires of life”. In this way, the baseballs bounce off just as they did that day for the catcher.

There is a consistent pattern to those who serve the Lord:

1.    Sentence of death  (threat by the enemy to destroy-baseballs)

2.    Miraculous deliverance    

(intervention (our protective gear) by God through Faith)

3.    Promotion   

(set in place to do the work of the Kingdom–making the catch)

This pattern is throughout scripture. Here are just a few examples:

Paul; Daniel; Moses; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; and Jesus Christ.

 

Pastor Ray

 

Thought for the Week

Are you prepared to die for Christ?

If not, how do you plan to live for Him?

 

 

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