Keep Your Eye on the Ball

David M. Schmaltz

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Mark 14:38

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  1 Peter 5:8

When I was a little league coach, I found myself parroting many old baseball clichés.  Isn’t it amazing that just because something is old and a bit worn out doesn’t mean it is no longer useful? What I found was that keeping your eye on the ball in baseball was the key to the whole game!  Yeah, that’s right. The game is fast; it is intense; it is constantly changing; it is a focus game.  In contrast, it can be the “laziest afternoon falls asleep in the stands” type of game. Well doesn’t that sound a bit like life? 

Jesus encouraged us to stay awake and aware because things can happen so fast. Consequently, if we are not in position, we can miss an opportunity to avoid evil, but also to advance His Kingdom.  Life is offense and defense.  Both require focus on what is really at stake.  In baseball, it is the ball. Where is it? How fast is it coming? Where does it go next?  In the Kingdom, we might ask, “Where am I? What is happening around me?  How do I respond to what is happening? What do I do next?” 

So what IS the ball in my sports metaphor?  It is God’s will for your life, my friend. It is not arbitrary or reactive. God has a plan, and it is unfolding in front of you every day. But, we rarely get a “heads up” when it comes to changes that come, like challenges that come so fast that we may not be ready to handle the intensity of the moment. We are left standing dazed and the ball is long gone. 

During this fast, we should take time to pray and ask God to awaken and refocus us so that we are alert.  If we are alert, then we are ready to do God’s will – our eye is on the ball! Here’s another of my sayings...”If you don’t swing the bat at a 3rd strike, you have a 100% chance of striking out.”  Let’s not stand at the plate and forget why we are there.  God has armored us up, God has given us His Holy Spirit, God has given us spiritual riches, and God has promised to stay right there and guide us. 

Don’t forget who you are! Read you manual. Pray to your “coach.” Get in the game and stay in the game.  And don’t forget...keep your eye on the ball!

Pastor David