The conversation is different among warriors.
The iron shapens iron is more involved among pastors
Regret is seldom a thing among those in the arena. They
will never know what it is to be a cold and timid soul that knows neither
victory nor defeat.
That is to say, I enjoy my time at sea and I do believe
in coincidence. I believe in divinely orchestrated coincidence. Most of them we
don’t notice. Those we notic e can be defining moments.
I was a high school freshman playing summer baseball in
Texas. About halfway through the season, I hit a homerun. It was the—not just
my first and only, the league’s first and only homerun of the season.
Another kid hit one over on the last game of the season,
but it didn’t count. His team had already forfeited for not having enough
players. Every kid had come to play and parents and girlfriends to watch.
We gave the other team a couple of players. We were going
to play a ball game. Besides, we would be playing all star ball next week and
wanted all the practice we could get.
That’s what they did back in the day. All stars from one
town would represent the town in a state-wide playoff. I’m a little critical
sometimes of all of these travel teams these days and what parents sacrifice
for their kids.
In the confluence of events leading up to this narrative,
I had cause to consider what my parents had given up that summer. I didn’t
fully appreciate it, but had a glimpse of understanding.
My dad’s job with General Dynamics in Fort Worth had
wrapped up and he chose to take a job that paid a lot less in Mangum, Oklahoma
so we could live on a farm we had there.
But I was on the all-star team and we kept winning. So we
stayed in Weatherford a few weeks longer with him having no job so I could go
as far as possible in the playoffs.
Kids, you will never know all the sacrifices your parents
make until you are in their shoes.
Okay, back to my homerun, the only one of the season. I
don’t know why Texas had to put their outfield fences in another county.
My next at bat, I decided to take the first pitch. The
coach didn’t tell me to. The same kid was on the mound and there was no way he
would dare give me the same pitch that went downtown before.
He did. Strike one.
I played catcher most of the time, so the other catcher
had to say, “That was the same pitch you hit over last time.” We catchers are like that, to point out
things that might get under another kid’s skin and stay in his mind for the
next at bat.
I momentarily regreted the decision to take the pitch,
but not for long. It was a lesson to be ready for every pitch.
Of course, I got a hit that at bat. My batting average
was higher than my free throw percentage. You figure out if I was really good
at baseball or just a terrible free throw shooter. Maybe it was both.
Thanks, Tom. Your youthful baseball history is really
going to help us get ready for return of our Lord.
You are correct, but the lesson I learned helped. Back to
my time at sea. Among the Marines I talked with, one became ordained. The
conversation was enriched further.
I talked with other pastors. I didn’t know they were pastors
when I sat to eat next to them or they sat by me.
The more that I post about our Lord, the more similar
posts come into my feed.
The confluence of events showed me that in my time here,
I took a pitch that I should have hit over the fence.
What?
Do you remember God telling Paul that his grace as
enough?
I thought we had covered the pericope but I had not dug
deeply enough into the verses that preceded it. I accepted the conventional,
surface level readings and commentaries.
The thorn in the flesh that Paul mentioned was not vision
problems or arthritis. Those are normal afflictions in the human condition.
What then?
Exactly what Paul said without redaction. A messenger of
Satan was sent to be a thorn in the flesh. The word messenger means angel, just
like those who didn’t get booted out of heaven. Same word. Different master.
And there was no portal so they could switch teams later.
Paul suffered at the hands of Satan’s servant because he
was a true champion for the gospel. Satan came against Paul.
Sometimes when you are on a roll in your discipleship,
you come under attack as well.
God’s grace is enough for you, for us if we have
arthritis, lose someone or something of value, or just take the pitch you
should have parked.
His grace is always enough, but when we are under attack,
add these to your full armor.
No weapon formed against me
shall prevail!
No weapon formed against you shall prosper!
Don’t go looking
for Satan and his servants in everything. Don’t get your grandparents’ vinal
records and start playing them backwards.
But know that Satan has attacked God’s prophets and
apostles, and you may come into his sights the more you put his words into
practice.
The battle is not
yours to win. That belongs to the Lord. He will give you orders. Just do what
he says.
Perhaps like our corporate Bible reading experience, these
ephiphanies afloat were also defining moments in God’s perfect timing.
God’s grace is always enough, even if it costs you your
life.
No weapon formed against me shall prevail! The weapons
form but will not prevail against the servant of God.
Pair those two statements as you face a world that has
been on the brink of war once again and the war being waged by the unseen
forces of evil.
Remember:
God, your grace is enough.
No weapon formed against me shall prevail.
No weapon formed against you shall prosper.
