Diamond Gems

Not matter what we are called to do, we are called to be faithful to the Lord. In small things or large things, it should be our goal to be found faithful. And, we can be confident in the Lord as we do His work. Isaiah 41 says:
8 "But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.
9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And called from its farthest regions, And said to you, 'You are My servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away:
10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

Fear prevents us from experiencing the fullness of God. Fear twists our thinking and corrupts our souls, so that we miss out on what He has in store for us.  If we are afraid to be obedient, to submit wholeheartedly to the Lord, because of fear, we cannot experience the joy and satisfaction of following Him. So, it is incumbent on us to train our minds to think Biblically, to make sure that we are thinking with a mind that is "renewed," according to Romans 12, and "sound," based on 2 Timothy 1.

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In 1st Peter 5, the writer addresses how we can submit our struggles to the Lord and trust in Him, even when we feel weak, helpless, or even inadequate. We can read, beginning in verse 5:
5b Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Later, we see these words, in verse 10:
10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

It's been quite the season for the Atlanta Braves - the team that was a perennial postseason presence back in the 1990's is back in the World Series for the first time this millennium. And, longsuffering Atlanta fans are enthusiastically supporting the team.

This year began with the death of Braves legend Hank Aaron.  His number, 44, is emblazoned on the outfield grass at Truist Park.  It was at the old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in 1974 when Hammerin' Hank made history by breaking Babe Ruth's longstanding home run record.  One of his former teammates returns to Atlanta tonight as the manager of the opponents, Dusty Baker. 

Of course, this is all special to me, having grown up in the Atlanta area and listening to the Braves on the radio and watching the team on the old channel 17, which Ted Turner built into the Superstation, garnering the team a national audience. 

A few years ago, the Braves, having fallen on hard times, went through a total rebuild, the fruit of which is being seen today.  One of the additions was a young man from my hometown of Marietta - he attended the same high school that I did, that his parents did.  

That would be the former top pick in the baseball draft, Dansby Swanson, the shortstop for the Braves. You might say that he turned a corner professionally - and spiritually, prior to last year's shortened season.  According to the Sports Spectrum website, Dansby said: “I really felt this past offseason going into this 2020 season … I felt this calling that something was going to be different for me in my spiritual life..."  He even received special prayer through a Nashville church.

You could say it was a breakthrough year, but not without struggles. Swanson said:

“I was very paralyzed with fear, or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “I was having a hard time breathing. I was having a hard time speaking, moving. I had to, like, think about it to do it. It was very robotic.”

He said regular meetings with mental wellness coach Dr. Armando Gonzalez helped him get back into a routine of reading his Bible and meditating, and he started to feel more in touch with who God created him to be. Swanson described a conversation he had with God in prayer, saying, “You wouldn’t give these things to me if I couldn’t handle them or, like, really, really succeed at them.”

Swanson admits, “If anything, the lesson that I’ve learned was that you can’t go wrong trusting and growing closer to God.”

On the opposite side, a Christian believer named Jose Altuve plays in the Astros infield, at second base. in the devotional book, Dugout Devotions II, writer Del Duduit included a chapter about the 2017 American League MVP.  On his website, Del included part of the Altuve chapter in the book, quoting him as saying:

“My faith and my relationship with God just doesn’t happen because I am successful. It just doesn’t work that way,” he said. “And I know that’s easy for me to say because I’m playing in the majors, but I have gone through my share of struggles. But those don’t stand out. What does stand out is that my mom and dad made sure we followed God. They lived the life and we followed because we saw how God took care of our family.”

Duduit writes:

He reads the Word of God and prays each day.

“It’s what gives me strength,” he said. “It’s the main thing in my life.”

To Jose, the relationship he has with the Lord is real.

“I really, really believe it,” he added. “My faith is so important to me. I never want to step away from it, and I have no interest to know what life without God would be like.”

But, you may be asking how Altuve may have factored into the well-known cheating scandal involving the Astros. There is evidence related in a book that he did not.  A post on the Fansided website covered social media comments by New York writer Andy Martino, in “Cheated: The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing," and the post stated:

Several Astros players have said publicly that Altuve didn’t participate in the sign stealing scheme and didn’t want to have signs relayed to him during his at-bats. This has been further confirmed, with Martino explaining that “MLB investigators had developed an understanding that he was not interested in having the signs” before anything was publicly reported.

That's the type of thing that can certainly tarnish a person's reputation, especially a believer in Christ. And, we should always make sure that we are living according to the Word, so that if we are alleged to be participating in activity that doesn't line up with Scripture, that perhaps people will give us the benefit of the doubt, so that the cause of Christ is not damaged.  We may also be called upon to take a stand.

Both these players have related their own struggles.  There is no doubt enormous pressure on a big league baseball player to perform at a high level day after day.  For instance, I cannot imagine the potential impact of 50 or 60 thousand hostile fans who are dedicated to seeing you fail.  But, we each have our own unique struggles, and can be inspired to submit our struggles - cast our cares - upon the Lord.

At the end of the day, we recognize that for each of us, it's not just about the stats.  Certainly, I believe that God is pleased when we do our work with excellence, as we should. That can sometimes be reflected in numbers; but the results for eternity are not solely reflected in the quantity of our work - it's really all about our obedience, allowing the fruit to be produced through us.