The next week, the campfire was burning brightly when the kids arrived. Dave asked the kids if any of them like baseball. Most of the kids had played baseball before and had enjoyed it. A few of the kids started bragging about how good they were at playing baseball. Dave listened patiently as he heard about how good some of them could hit, and how good they were at playing shortstop, pitching, or playing 1st base. Dave let them talk, and soon the stories became unbelievable! They could not have possibly done all the things that they were bragging about!
Dave quietly said, “Did you know that I once pitched a ‘no-hitter’? The kids were impressed! Dave did not look like a great baseball player, and they asked him if he was really that good! Dave laughed and said, “No, I am not good enough to pitch a no-hitter, but I am bad enough to pitch a no-hitter! The kids did not understand what Dave was talking about, and they asked him what he meant. Dave then told them this true story:
Dave does not have any baseball skills, he is not good at throwing, he is not good at catching, and he cannot pitch. One time at a camp, all the campers and leaders were divided into teams for the entire week. The teams competed against each other in everything from sports to Scripture hunts to Bible quizzes. When it was time for the baseball competition, Dave’s team did not know what to do with him because he had no skills. If they put him in the outfield, he would miss the balls, and he could not throw the ball far enough to get it back into play. If they had him play one of the bases, or shortstop, he would miss everything, and the runners would get all the way around the bases and score. Finally, they decided to let Dave try to pitch for a while.
Dave tried his hardest, but he could not throw the ball across the plate. If the other team had been smart, their batters would have just stood there for four pitches and walked to first base. They could have won the game without ever having to swing the bat! That is how bad Dave’s pitching was.
But the players on the other team were impatient. They did not want to walk to first base, they wanted to get hits and hopefully hit some homeruns! So, they started to swing at pitches that were not even close to the batter’s box, and they kept missing those pitches!
Dave struck out every batter on the other team! They did not get any hits, and none of them even got to first base! Dave was the hero of his team, and that is how a person with no baseball skills won a baseball game!
The kids were laughing and did not believe that the story was true, but Dave assured them that it was a true story. Dave told the kids that the baseball story could teach them more about living for God.
The other team was not patient, if they had just stood there and waited for a good pitch, they would have won the game. Too often we get impatient with life and do not want to wait for God to show us the best way to handle a situation. We believe that we can fix the situation, and so we run ahead with our own plan, and usually it does not go well. We end up with bigger problems, we get frustrated, and we get tired out!
In the Bible in Galatians 5:24-26 it says:
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their sinful desires to His cross. They don’t want these things anymore. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become proud. Let us not make each other angry. Let us not want what belongs to others.
These verses tell us that we are not supposed to try to come up with our own plan and run ahead of God. God has a plan for each of us, but He does not tell us about the whole plan in advance. God’s Holy Spirit lives inside of each Believer, and these verses tell us to stay in step with the Holy Spirit. This takes patience. If the baseball players had had patience, they would have won the ballgame. If Believers have patience, as they go through life, the Holy Spirit will guide each one on the best path for them.
Patience is not easy, but it has its rewards. In the Bible in Isaiah 40:28-31 it says:
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of His understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
Be patient and trust God to take you down the path of life that is best for you!