But My Eye WAS On The Ball!
My nine year old is getting ready for baseball, and it will be his first year playing the game. Day by day he has been getting better, but batting has been tough. Shoot, it can be tough for big leaguers! So, I decided to get him off on the right foot and hire a coach to help him. We met Bob who has, let’s just say, a TREMENDOUS amount of baseball knowledge. In his day, he was scouted by the Orioles, Phillies, and the Reds. He knows his stuff.
So, Brady is up to bat. His feet look good, chin is down, shoulders are in position. Here comes the ball… stride is good… and… WHIFF! He swings and misses. Nothing but air. Strike one.
Then another pitch… WHIFF! Strike two, strike three, strike seven, you get the point.
Brady is frustrated. I’m confused. He was doing everything right. His eye was on the ball, but he kept whiffing the ball. Bob, walks up to Brady and moves his bat from behind his head about eight inches so the bat is lined up over Brady’s back shoulder, essentially shortening his swing. Bob’s cue to Brady is “bat.” Brady now knows to quickly glance to see that his bat is in position.
Here comes the next pitch… “BANG!”
He hit the ball!
Then another, “BANG!” and another “BANG!”
This feels much better!
Do you ever feel like you are “whiffing” at life? You are doing everything right, you’ve prepared yourself, and you are in position. Your eye is on the prize! Yet, every time you you swing, you miss. Maybe it’s with your job, your marriage, or even at church. You keep asking, “Why God? I’m trying to do everything the right way!”
By the grace of God, I’ve been clean and sober now for over 15 years. So many times on my journey, I just couldn’t see things as they were. I kept trying and trying, but things weren’t working out. I needed strong counsel and wisdom from people who had been where I had been and were STILL walking where I wanted to go. They weren’t living perfect or always prosperous lives, but full and rich lives walking with God. These people could see my life or situation objectively in a way that I just couldn’t. I know now that God has used people he put in my path many times to work in my life and to give me WISDOM!
In Ecclesiastes 7:11-12, the Bible says, “Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.
Then, in Proverbs 19:20, we read, “Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.”
If you are “whiffing” at life, ask God to guide you and yes, perhaps ask Him for the right person to help you “correct your swing.
