Curveballs

Curveballs can really throw you for a loop.  You see the ball coming right down the pipe.  It looks pretty, and it is in the perfect place.  Your brain tells you, "This one is going out of the park!"  The signals fire off to your muscles, and they tense as muscle memory drives them through a motion they have done a million times before.  The sweet spot of the bat lines right up with the ball, and you are about to be the hero of the game.

It is right then that defeat is snatched from the jaws of victory.

Your swing is perfect and the bat comes around quickly to meet the ball, destined for a glorious arc over the center field fence.  Yet, right as the contact is about to be made, the ball dips and drops to the side into the catcher's mitt.  You saw it coming.  That gut feeling as you saw the characteristic spin of the ball is similar to that feeling your stomach gets when the elevator moves down too quickly, but it was far too late to stop your swing.

STRIKE THREE!
And off you go to spend some time reflecting on that luxurious plank of wood in the dugout...

All the "if only" thoughts go through your mind.  If I had only seen it sooner, I could have let it go.  If I had only swung lower, I would be rounding the bases right now, and this dugout would be emptied of my teammates waiting to congratulate me at home plate.  If I had only...  anything but swung like I did at that tasty-looking, big-as-a-beach-ball pitch.  You feel like an idiot, and it might even be hard to look your teammates in the eye.

Events in life can be like that, and it is not always under your control.  The batter can do everything right, and still miss that curveball.  You see the pitch.  It looks good.  You take a good cut, quick and level.  There is nothing more that can be expected of you, and you still lose.  My encouragement is to look to God in these moments.  Curveballs in life can be extremely confusing and even more painful.  The pain can even be debilitating.  I know it can.  I just missed one myself.  That is part of why I am writing this.  It helps me to process.  The thing I keep coming back to is relying on God through this time.

I read this verse to the youth last night, "Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me" (Psalm 144:1-2).

Usually I like to focus on the aspects of spiritual warfare, and I think that is applicable.  Satan likes to try to derail us as we attempt to follow God, but I found myself thinking more about the second verse.  God is my "steadfast love."  He is "my stronghold" and "my deliverer."  He is "my shield" and it is in Him that "I take refuge."  That is what I am doing now in the aftermath of my curveball.  I am making sure that my center is in Jesus alone.  Whether you just got taken by a curveball or if you have been knocking them out of the park, take some time to make sure that Jesus is your focus and your center. Without standing on the solid Rock, you cannot hope to have a good base to swing from.

When life is pitching, a curveball or two are eventually coming your way.  Things happen all the time that we do not expect.  Remember, though.  Not all is lost.  I might just have got called out on a curveball, but it is only the beginning of the third inning.  I know I have at least one more at bat.  You may be further down the line, but no one ever said God was limited to nine innings either.