Baseball

God throws curveballs. And sliders, knuckle balls, screw balls, and even the elusive loop-the-loop ball. Sometimes he throws a fastball, and sometimes he throws an underhand toss. Sometimes he goes ahead and hits the hitter- not because He is scared the hitter will knock it out of the park, but because without that, the hitter will never see first base.

Now, don't think of me as a baseball fan. I'm the exact opposite. I was put at catcher during coach's pitch (They have another adult to catch the pitches, I just caught the occassional fly balls), and, when I was real lucky- I was put at pitcher (end the play by catching the dead ball.)

I'm also the kid who bit a hole in his tongue by catching one of those dead balls. The reason I was kept on the team was because it was Rec Coach's Pitch, and I was 11 months older than the other kids and could smash it out of the park hit it a bit harder than the other guys on the team. Needless to say, I retired from baseball at age 9.

God has done this multiple times throughout the Bible. Look at Paul- God clearly hit him right in the face with a classic "Put scales on your eyes" ball. I mean, he was blind for three days! But he got to first! And from there, he was able to run the bases!

It isn't that God is on the opposite team, but its like Coach's Pitch- where your own Coach comes out to pitch to you, while the other team is in the field. Why? So that when your opponent does start pitching to you, you know how to hit, bunt, and take a hit.

So what is God throwing to you? A fastball? Change-up? Slider? Maybe he is throwing one of those throws that takes everything you have. Maybe one of those underhand throws that you can smash, just so that you can feel a victory.

Whatever it is- be ready, because the minute you hit that ball- your opponents will start to play the field, and are ready to get you out.