When you go to bat for God, you always get a run! No matter how small you feel, your efforts matter.
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Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with baseball season in full swing.
Not long ago I was cheering on my friend’s son at his Little League game – a relaxing kind of thing to do on a Saturday morning. Anyway, I was sitting on the sidelines with our yellow team at the bottom of the second inning. The opposing team, dressed in red, was up. So, this cute little guy from across the way hopped off the bench, tucked in the shirt of his red uniform, and shuffled toward home plate, dragging his way-too-big baseball bat behind him. With no runs on the scoreboard, the pressure was on this young man. So, he took his stance over home plate, lifted the bat to his shoulder, and our yellow-team pitcher began to wind up. That’s when the infield started their chatter, “Come on pitcher, come on pitcher, come on pitcher, give it speed, give it speed, you’ve got this one; come on!” And our coach clapped his hands and added to the clamor, shouting, “This one’s a cinch, he’s an easy strike-out!” Our pitcher threw the ball. And the boy in the red shirt took a swing, spun out, and nearly fell over. The yellow team coach shouted to his pitcher, “okay, okay, you’ve got him now, you’ve got him now, he’s going down… keep it up… he’s an easy out, easy out!”
I couldn’t believe it. My heart went out to this little guy in the red with his bat – and I wasn’t even rooting for his team! As our pitcher tossed his final ball, my hopes were riding high on the kid at home plate. And then, crack! The boy in red hit the ball! And he scrambled to first base huffing and smiling. His was a grin of sheer victory. Now… I have felt like that boy many times. When we serve the Lord, it stirs and steps up a lot of chatter on the opposing side. As we walk to the plate, doing the will of God, we’ll no doubt hear the accusing voice of our dark adversary hissing, “There’s no way you’re going to make it. You’re an easy out! You’re not trained enough, you’re not suited for this, you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re never going to make a difference, you’re not cut out for this; so, back off, just drop your bat and walk away from the plate; come on, look at you – look at you, your sorry self – no way you belong on the team.” Your adversary, the devil, says that ’cause he’s a bully. He’s a liar, he’s the father of lies. And he will do his best to intimidate you from doing God’s will.
So don’t you listen to that devil. When you go to bat for God, you always get a hit. You always get a run. Maybe not a homerun, but your efforts count on the eternal scoreboard. No matter how small you feel, your efforts matter. Because God is for you. And one day your accuser will be hurled down. And you’ll be on the side that wins! And that glorious, winning moment is described in Revelation 12:10 where it says, “I heard a loud voice in heaven say: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Messiah. For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God, day and night, has been hurled down.’” Woohoo, what a day! Satan’s going to be hurled down. And then, game over. It’ll be a wrap. And the real victory party will begin. So, do not listen to lies that intimidate. Listen to everything God says about you in his Word. Pick up your bat, step up to the plate, and keep doing the will of him who called you to his team; keep serving the Lord where he’s put you. Don’t look at the scoreboard; just keep looking to Jesus. And that’s your good word today, your hopeful word; I give you the Word, Jesus Christ, the one who, in the end, wins it all. Oh, and one more thing: I want you to have a copy of our Joni and Friends newsletter. So just go to joniradio.org – it’s filled with opportunities for you to serve people with disabilities, all in the name of Jesus!
© Joni and Friends