2002-12-07 - Trust

Encore from 1998-09-09

Mark 10:15 (NIV) I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

Luke 18:16 (NIV) But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these

A couple years ago, I watched the news tonight on television for the first time in probably a decade. (Yes it will be another 10 years until I do that again.) I had been intrigued by all the hoopla around Mark McGwire, and him probably breaking the single-season homerun record in baseball. As I turned the television off, I thought, "that's nothing compared to what Morgan did."

Now you folks don't know Morgan, but let me tell you about him. During a recent summer, I was an assistant coach for my six-year-old son's Pee-Wee baseball team. I don't think I have ever had as much fun as that, nor have I learned so much from a group of kids. While I was teaching them some fundamentals of baseball, they were teaching me some great truths about life.

Morgan was the smallest boy on our team, a brilliant child and a true team player, who at six understood the game. Morgan was the only one on the team, that could tell you during the game, which team was winning! The third game of the season, Morgan struck out three times. The first time, he ran to the dugout with his head hanging just a little low. The second time, his bottom lip was poking out and his head was lower. The third time, he turned to come to the dugout, and my heart sunk as tears were making little rivers across his dirt-covered face. He said, "I can't do this anymore, I am no good."

I picked Morgan up and hugged him, and assured him that he was a very good baseball player, and more importantly a great kid.

It's the last inning of the game, Morgan is at bat and he smacks a ball past the pitcher. Yes! Morgan made it to first base. His little face was beaming with joy. I could see the look in his eyes. It was a look of, "I want to score no!" The next two batters hit singles, and Morgan advanced to third base. Bradley was up to bat next. As I was putting his helmet, on I told him, "Bradley, I want you to try like never before, to hit that ball."

Lo and behold, he smacked the ball to the outfield, and Morgan came running home! I picked Morgan up and told him how proud I was of him. And Morgan said to me, "Coach, I just knew if I got to first base, my teammates would bring me on home." Morgan taught me so much that night. Sometimes we get into seasons of strikeouts. It seems like the harder that we try, the worse things get. And sometimes we want to just turn and get out of the game. Worst of all, we want to walk away from God. Sometimes we start thinking, "Lord, when I accepted You, I thought my life would be smooth sailing from here on out. What happened to the abundant life I was promised?"

Lately God has answered my questions like this with a gentle voice - asking, "do you trust Me?" Do you trust Me to be Lord of your life? Do you trust Me to see you through this? Do you trust Me to deliver you from these hardships? Do you trust Me with your entire life? Isn't that what our faith is all about? Trusting God by turning our entire lives over to Him, not just bits and pieces? Can you hear God saying, "Do you trust Me?" in your life?

Little Morgan trusted his teammates to bring him home, once he had done his part in the game. Let's do our part, and let God do His. How do we do that? We do it by simply trusting God. Do you trust Him?

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NIV) Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,  yet I will rejoice in the LORD. I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Lord, keep pressing us to trust you more. Keep pressing us to have faith in You and to keep looking to You during our struggles. Forgive us when we give up, and for thinking that You have given up on us. We know, Lord, that you are faithful to us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

David Massey

david@e-devotionals.org
http://www.cfdevotionals.org
http://www.e-devotionals.org