Opportunities

When someone prays for patience, does God automatically give them patience, or opportunities to practice patience? When someone prays for courage, does God automatically give it to them, or an opportunity to be courageous? If someone prayed for their family to be closer, do you think God would automatically give them warm, fuzzy feelings or an opportunity for a family to draw close and support one another?

God said this. I mean, God, as played by Morgan Freeman in the movie Evan Almighty. 

Isn’t it funny how God can use the messiness in our lives to produce something beautiful—something that wouldn’t have been fashioned in our everyday comfort and routine of life? At Becca’s former school, they called their tests and quizzes “opportunities”. It is during the challenges and tests of life that we are given a wonderful opportunity to learn, to grow closer to God and to allow him to bring forth a greater measure of the likeness of Jesus in our lives.

Just Swing!

This summer, our schedule was filled with baseball. Two of our boys, Jordan and Justin, played on two different teams. Many of our evenings were spent sitting in lawn chairs, snacking on sunflower seeds while we cheered our Tigers and Yankees to victory.

During Justin’s last time at bat for the season, he found himself with 3 balls and 2 strikes. Last pitch. Last opportunity for the season. As the final pitch made its way across the plate, Justin watched it pass by him into the catcher’s mitt. Strike 3. He was out.

Gregg was visibly frustrated. But his frustration wasn’t because Justin had struck out; it was because he didn’t swing. He watched a perfectly good pitch fly by him and missed his last opportunity of the season to get another hit.

It made me think. How often do I allow indecision, fear and insecurity to paralyze me? How often do I let opportunities to be used by God fly by me? And in my fear of failing, I fail to accomplish anything.

I want more. I want to live differently. I want to step out, seize opportunities, and be ready to swing when the right pitch is thrown.