God is our Catcher

Picture yourself as a baseball player.

But you are not just ANY baseball player, you are a pitcher! It's your job to stand tall on the mound, throw strikes, and get opposing batters out. Being a pitcher, you are proud, because you have a superior arm and are always the center of attention. However, in order for you to be successful you must have excellent non-verbal communication with your catcher. The catchers responsibility is to give you a signal, (telling you what type of pitch to throw) then once he catches the ball, he'll throw it back to you. Being the proud pitcher that you are, sometimes you listen or agree with the signal your catcher gives you and sometimes you disagree and "shake him off", because you want throw an entirely different pitch.

Let's stop here for a minute...I'm going to pick this back up again, but want to briefly change gears for a moment...

How many times have worries kept you up at night?

We all experience stress in our lives and sometimes the daily struggle of life can take a toll on our bodies - spiritually, mentally, and physically. We might worry about a thousand-and-one different things ranging from...money, relationships, career, being late, children, weather, food, illness, etc. and we all handle these situations differently.

I get told by my wife all the time that I'm too laid back. She's right, I am laid back. But, I also try not to get worked up over things that might be outside of my immediate control. Worrying about something does not make the current situation any easier. In fact, it makes it more difficult because now your body is attempting to compensate for the added stress, along with trying to think through the particular problem.

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus speaks to a gathering and tells them they should not be concerned with their daily needs. He is basically telling them that worry and anxiety are fruitless emotions that cause more harm than good. He also tells them that worrying will not extend their life, so why bother?

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life
Matt 6:27

When you have worries, pray to God and allow Him to deal with your worries in His own way. Transfer your worries to Him. God wants us to be dependent on Him. Remember - we are His children and He is our Father.

Now back to the pitcher story...

Since we've already established that you are the pitcher, now let's say God is your catcher. God gives you "signals" (Holy Spirit) in an attempt to tell you what type of pitch you need to throw. When you do throw it, God always catches it. Do the same with your worries, throw them to God. In your life the "bases might be loaded" and He is signaling for us to toss away our worries and He will catch them. That's how much He loves us. But, before He can take away our worries, we must first be willing to trust that He is giving us the right "signal."

Trust in the Lord and allow Him to catch your worries. He is constantly signaling us and trying to get our attention. Let us seek and find Him.

Here is the passage from Matthew that inspired this posting:

²⁵"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

²⁸"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

³¹So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' ³²For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matt 6:25-34

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!