Courage For Today

playing

Field of Dreams

Encouragement

“You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Psalm 16:11

When I was a child, we spent most of our time playing outside for the majority of the day.  We were constantly playing football, baseball, or basketball, and even dabbled in street hockey a time or two.  If we weren’t able to play outside, you would catch us playing with the few toys that we were fortunate enough to own.  Back then, there were no video games or cell phones or computers.  All we had was our imaginations and those precious few toys that captured our heart, everything from miniature cars to board games and anything in-between.

One of my favorite toys was my electric football set.  Today’s generation might ask, “what in the World is an electric football set?”  The electric football field was made from a thin piece of metal, painted as a football field, attached to an electric cord that plugged into a nearby outlet.  The field was designed to resemble a traditional football stadium with scoreboards, goal posts, and even stands full of fans.  The football set had two teams of plastic football players.  As a “coach,” my job was to place my team on the field in strategic locations.  My opponent “coach” aligned his team on the field to counter my team’s set-up. We each placed our opposing players carefully on the Field in hopes that our team would somehow score and eventually win the game.  Then the fun really started.  We simply turned the switch to “on” and the Field vibrated so that the plastic football players danced and moved all over the metal football field.  What usually happened was the vibrating field would send our team’s plastic players in random directions with no patterns or strategies whatsoever.  It seemed that no matter how much time we spent preparing our team for victory, as soon as the game was “turned on,” there was total chaos and defeat as our respective players went in every direction except the directions we wanted.

There have been times in my life that felt as if I was living on the proverbial electric football field.  It seemed that no matter what I did or how much I planned, my life danced and moved in directions I never anticipated.  In fact, it was as if the harder I tried, the worse things got.

Over the years, I have learned that my life is not controlled by me. Usually, I learned this the hard way.  I am controlling and stubborn by nature and try to handle life myself with little direction. After many heartaches and failures, I learned that my life is controlled by a Heavenly Father who has a specific plan for my life and knows what is best for me.  Whenever I decided to become my own “coach” and move in a direction I thought was best, I usually failed and failed miserably.  Whenever I recognized that God is the real “coach” and began allowing Him to direct me–based on my God-given strengths–I became successful in God’s eyes.

If you find yourself going through some of those tough times, simply take a step back and allow God to orchestrate all things in your life.  Trust me from experience—-by relinquishing control, you will actually be more in control.

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The Workers Are Few

Strength

I have some great memories of playing on the small farm at my Grandfathers, when I was maybe 9 or 10 years old.  It wasn’t a huge farm by any means, but for an old City boy like me it was something special.  I can remember that he had chickens running around everywhere; fields of corn; a fishing lake; and–my favorite–the old barn.  I don’t think I had ever seen a real barn before, but it was everything I had imagined.  Lofts of hay were everywhere.  At least one horse I can remember was in the barn.  There were lots of places to climb and jump and explore.  It was a dream world for someone my age.

I remember one particular afternoon, my grandfather decided that he needed to pick some of the corn from the fields and, worst of all, he decided that I needed to help.  I can remember not being very excited about helping.  I was in my own little world playing in the barn and the last thing I wanted to do at that time was learn how to gather corn from the field.  Of course, I went along for the adventure but learned quickly that my hunches were right; I would have rather stayed in the barn.

My grandfather walked with me down the long rows of corn.  As we were walking, he was explaining that if the corn wasn’t picked soon, it would all rot and not be fit to eat.  The timing was critical.  I remember how tall the stalks of corn were, all over 6 feet tall.  He showed me how to find the corn on the stalks and look for the corn that was ready to be picked.  He then showed me how to take the corn off the stalk; put the freshly picked corn in a basket; and move on down the row to the next stalk.  My memories of this farming adventure were not very positive.  I remember how hot it was.  The sun beaming down on us as we were sweating and itching while moving between row after row after row.  I remember how isolated and lonely I felt at times. My grandfather had ventured off several rows from me and I can remember how scary that was.  I was in this huge field of giant corn stalks, by myself, and not knowing which way to go if I had to go back to the barn.  I also remember how hard it was.  I had to look for the corn on the stalk, then look to make sure it was ready to be picked, then pick the corn and lug it around with my basket full of other corn that had been picked.  I would much rather have been playing in the barn.

The Lord reminded me the other day of our verse in Matthew that says in part that the Harvest is plentiful, but the Laborers are few.  I can see why.  Just like my experience that day on the farm, our attempts to labor in God’s Fields face the same obstacles:

  • The Lord’s work is uncomfortable sometimes.  Remember, when we labor in the Lord’s work, we trying to reach people that are usually resistant to God’s word.  There’s often tension and friction and even conflict. Unfortunately, it takes endurance on our part to carry on even when the going is tough.
  • The Lord’s work is lonely sometimes.  Many times I have worked on projects or events for the Lord and wondered why?  I wondered why was I wasting my time when seemingly no one cared or noticed.
  • The Lord’s work is not easy.  In most cases, the Lord leads in directions that will grow us and shape us.  That’s not usually comfortable.  Its’ much easier to stay where we are.

That corn on the cob later that day with dripping, melting butter was delicious.  But, few, knew what was involved to get to that point of enjoyment. Timing is critical.  We don’t know how critical our part is in God’s overall plan.  If you and I are not obedient and don’t follow God’s direction, it may be too late for some.

Has the Lord called you to be a Laborer for HIM in a certain area?  Is so, are you willing to work and endure the heat; loneliness; and difficulty of the Field of Harvest, or are you ready to return to the barn where it’s comfortable?

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Three Strikes and You’re Still Safe

Grace

I love baseball; always have.  I suppose it is because of the rich history of the game along with the fact that I played baseball frequently when I was a child.  Baseball history dates back many, many years and is filled with stories of great games and great players.  In fact, I have many collectible autographs and other memorabilia which remind me even more of the history of the game.

Baseball was a game I enjoyed playing as a child, although I wasn’t great at the game.  I suppose I was average, but was never a superstar by any stretch of the imagination. I usually ended up playing in the outfield and occasionally even had a fly ball land in my glove—purely by accident.  I don’t ever remember running and catching a ball; the ball would simply find my glove.  As far as batting went, it was a success for me if I managed not to strike out.  If I happened to be walked by the pitcher it was really deemed a success because I had the rare opportunity to run the bases.

Baseball has a strict set of rules.  There are a minimum number of required innings to play. There are rules for batters and fielders and there are umpires present to insure everyone and every team complies with the rules. Whenever I batted, it didn’t matter how much I might argue, I was never given a 4th strike.  I was only allowed three; three strikes before I was called “out” and sent back to the dugout in humiliation.  It didn’t matter what I did to get more strikes, my efforts were futile.  I could practice harder.  I could be more of a team player.  I could help my teammates more.  I could be more polite to the umpires and coaches.  None of that mattered.  I was still only allowed three strikes.

I am so glad God does not and has not viewed me that way.  How many times have I failed Him? How many “strikes” would I have if God were keeping score?  What would happen if I only had 3 chances to “get it right” or God would never accept me?  God’s word says that it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve tried and failed, or what you’ve done in the past, He still awaits you with open arms. I remember vividly how disappointed my coaches were in me when I struck out and failed to deliver.  The good news is that God is never disappointed in us no matter what we’ve done and no matter how distant we’ve been from God.  He awaits you with open arms.

With God, your 3 strikes only mean you have another opportunity.  Your 4 strikes or 10 strikes only mean that God is still waiting for you.  He will never be a disappointed coach in the dugout.  He will be on the field encouraging you to come home.

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