“But God can throw us curve balls.” This was added to a text from a friend as she was explaining her hope for good test results.
Too many times I hear statements like this of our Father. Believers making God the reason for all things that happen in this world, good, bad and otherwise. God being the one responsible for the trials we face, because He orchestrates everything. God is our Creator. God is our Father. God is our Savior. God is not our destroyer.
God does not throw curve balls. God is not in the position of trying to get us out of the game. God is not on the opposing team. God is not playing with us, nor competing with us. To put God in the place of the pitcher or an opposing team player we bring Him down to our level. God is not equal to man, we are not equal to Him. We sin. We fail. We get hurt. We compete to get on top, for our glory.
In the baseball analogy, God would be the commissioner. ( and a bit more, the inventor of the game and not elected by man and never makes mistakes). God makes up the rules, He explains the rules, in His Word. The rules explain how to play the game. The commissioner sets the standards of being on The Team. God applies the consequence to offenses. He creates justice. God is over the coaches and teams, even the one opposing coach and team. There are two teams. The opposing team and the believing team. The Believing team’s coach is the Holy Spirit, who happens to be really close to the Commissioner. Those who don’t believe in the rules and regulations of the Commissioner, are just spectators. Those spectators have opportunity to join the eternal game, anytime, but they have to abide to the rules and believe in the Commissioner.
The commissioner is not subject to the powers of an owner, nor a coach. The description of the baseball commissioner on Baseball Almanac can describe our God well.Beyond the obvious jobs of coaches and players, there are countless support and administrative personnel facilitating the “behind the scenes” aspects of the sport. Since its inception, professional baseball has appointed one top executive, the Commissioner of Baseball, to oversee the entire operation and maintain the integrity of the game. Unfortunately, like most public officials, the Commissioner is often forgotten in times of prosperity, yet the first to be blamed when problems arise. It is a job that requires not only a tremendous love for the game, but also an even greater patience for the media.
The curve balls of life are thrown by the opposing team, this sinful world. Satan is coach of this team and he has a damn good pitcher. The balls thrown are illness, physical death, famine, debt, wealth, pride, success. We are given instruction on how to or if to hit these balls if we have the faith to believe in the instruction and the Commissioner that gave us instruction we know what to do with these pitches. Sometimes we will panic or don’t take the signals from our coach, and swing at balls we aren’t to swing at and we strike out. Not out of the game, but back on the bench for awhile.
The Commissioner is in charge of it all, yet He does not; throw the balls, catch the flies, swing the bats, yell from the dugout, tell the pitcher what to pitch, hire the umpire, kick the dirt, make bad calls, hit home runs…… God created it all, set it in order, and maintains the integrity of His creation. Unfortunately He is often forgotten in times of prosperity, and is the first to be blamed when problems arise. It is a job that requires not only tremendous love but also greater patience.
I'm Not So Petty 