Change Ups and Curve Balls

With baseball in the air and the playoffs in full swing, I’ve watched the games through nostalgic eyes recalling visions of yesteryears and how fun it was to watch the games with my grandmother. I remember so well how Nanny loved the Atlanta Braves. She delighted in cheering them on to victory. She always wore a simple cotton dress but on game days, Nanny added a Braves baseball cap to her ensemble and accessorized with a red foam tomahawk. Fully-engaged, she sat in her plaid oversized armchair tomahawk-chopping along with the fans in the stands. In her nineties then, oh how she loved the starting rotation of the early nineties, especially Glavine and Smoltz.

She knew baseball and she knew a thing or two about change-ups and curveballs, on and off the field. You and I do, too.

In many ways, life is a constant “at bat,” isn’t it? One circumstantial pitch after another rifled and hurled toward us spinning at harrowing speeds. Fast balls, sliders, change-ups and curve balls galore. Knuckle balls we try to hit before they hit us square in the face like a knuckle sandwich leaving us knocked out cold. We swing hard fouling some off, catching air with a few, getting on base sometimes, and hitting homers with others. We respond to life’s change-ups and curve balls with everything from strike-outs to grand slams.

Posters, pillows, and placards are plastered with a familiar cliché, “When life throws you a curve ball, hit it out of the park.” Easier said than done, right? How can we stand in the batter’s box and consistently hit change-ups and curve balls over the fence? What about when a spouse files for divorce, the doctor says terminal, the boss announces down-sizing, your teen screams hatred, and your own inner-voice spews accusations? Honestly, when situations like these come into my life, it takes me some time to pray it through, think it through - time to work it through and then decide to just push through.

I’ve found that turning to God, turning the situation over to Him, and turning to His Word is simple yet powerful.

Has life thrown you a few curve balls recently? If so, know that you are not alone. I’m right there with you. The only answer I have is the best answer ever and that is: turn to Jesus and turn it all over to Him. Invite Him into the batter’s box with you and take your hitter’s stance in His shadow. Then listen for the echo of His voice. His alive and active, sacred and true Word will bat down whatever change-ups and curve balls are pitched your way.