Hitting What Comes our Way

I’m sitting here in my cozy chair watching the World Series. While I’m not much of a baseball fan I do like the season finally. There are a lot of things that could be said about the game. Each manager meticulously implements his own strategy and the players follow suit in an effort to win. With all the spitting, chewing, pawing, and groping its quite evident that nerves are on edge. But from what I can see the whole game comes down to the pitcher and the batter. It’s very simple. The pitcher tries to throw more than the hitter can handle and the batter tries to respond by hitting whatever comes at him. If proper connection is made then the game can be won. Isn’t that somewhat like the spiritual life? The enemy is constantly trying to throw more at us than we can handle and we respond by swinging at whatever comes our way. In this heated exchange we find ourselves facing the same strategy as the Series player. Just when he finds a way to hit the ball successfully, the manager changes pitchers. Isn’t that just like the enemy, always changing his scheme? If at first he doesn’t succeed he tries something else. However, the important thing for us to remember is that we have help. We are told in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” We may face the fast ball, the curve or the slider, but the Holy Spirit has studied every pitch and knows what it takes for us to make contact. If we trust God we will be able to hit a homerun scoring off whatever comes our way. That’s a World Saving promise!