My husband and I sat in the bleachers with my daughter and other parents and grandparents of the baseball players. It was their first games this year and everyone was very excited. We were on pins and needles because our grandson was to play in his first game.
The air was cold and we huddled under our big coats and blankets, waiting for that faithful moment when he would get to play. We watched the first game - no grandson. The only thing he was seen doing was going after the foul balls. He didn't complain; just said, I'm a good bench warmer. But, as the game went on, we felt really bad for him. We thought surely he would get to play in the second game. Well, the line up went out onto the field, and no grandson. His younger brother was calling his name, and saying, "let him pitch". Surely, he couldn't have done any worse than any of the other players on the field. But, the game was almost over and he hadn't gotten to bat or pitch. Then, after the first out of the top of the sixth inning, they called his name to be the next batter. Well, he was struck out with a fast ball, although everyone thought the umpire was wanting to get off the field, calling one ball that was way to low as a strike. You can imagine how this young man felt, having stepped up to the plate, and striking out. But, along came their pitcher from the first game, his best friend, and he was also thrown out before he got to the first base. This made things a little better.
But, after the game, he felt really bad, in that he was the only one that never got to play in the game. It wouldn't have been so bad, had it not been the coaches that came to him and begged him to play this year because of his throwing in football. It isn't easy for a young teenager to take defeat or accept that it's not because of him that he didn't get to play. Several said 'everyone can't play every game'. But, here this young man was, the ONLY one that didn't get to play. How do you explain that to him?
When our heart hurts, we feel down and out, and left out, there is a God that loves us. It doesn't matter what we look like, what we have accomplished, or how much we have done or haven't done. When we turn our lives over to God, then he is there for every disappointment that we go through, every pain we suffer, and each time life doesn't go our way.
Psalms 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.
Master's Table-Devotionals
