Pursuing His Purpose

Our faith in Christ can propel us to go into the places where God wants to take us, but we have to be willing and have a submissive heart. Hebrews 10 directs us to where we can place our confidence:
35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.
36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:
37 "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry.
38 Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him."

Even in the midst of pain and struggle, we can persevere through Christ - He gives us abundant grace to be able to withstand the onslaught of the enemy's discouragement and to develop confidence in Him. He is our source of strength; He is the One who gives us hope even when we feel weak.  We can place our trust in a God who loves us, who sent His Son to redeem us, and who has an incredible purpose that He wants to fulfill in us.

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God is present with us, even during our times of pain - when we encounter challenges, we can look to Him and be confident that He is at work. James chapter 1 provides these reminders:
2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

He grew up with a serious spinal deformity and had to wear braces as a child.  He had surgery numerous times.  But he desired to play baseball.  He is quoted in a Faithwire article: "I had no disk in my spine,” he said. “People didn’t realize, I was born with no disk. My grandmother and my great-grandmother were in wheelchairs; I’d never seen them any different, and I was headed in the same direction.”

But, Rickey Hill wanted to play baseball. So, as the article reports:

...at just eight years old, he walked out of the clunky supports that straightened his legs, which were twisted around one another at birth, and picked up a baseball bat.

“One day, at eight years old, I busted those braces off,” he said. “I never put ’em back on.”

The boldness and reckless courage it took Hill to walk away from the physical limitations dictating his future “came straight from God Himself,” the unlikely athlete reflected.

When he was 19, he actually was given the opportunity to try out for the Montreal Expos and signed a contract.  He was released, but still spent four years playing minor league baseball before his physical limitations got the best of him.

But, he felt satisfaction; Hill said: “I knew one day that I would make it, somehow, someway,” adding, “It didn’t matter the pain. I weathered the pain, because it was very painful, but I weathered that storm through the pain and I just had it built in. My father had it; I had it.”  

Rickey's father was a Baptist preacher who wanted him to follow in his footsteps - the father is played by Dennis Quaid in the recent movie release, The Hill, in which Colin Ford plays the role of Rickey.

The article goes on to say:

“I was probably the only baseball player ever that never said a curse word,” he said with a laugh. “I would get on the buses and I’d start preaching to the guys on the bus, the guys that would listen, and singing Gospel songs, leading Gospel songs while we were on the road traveling. That carried on through my baseball career.”

Even in moments when he didn’t understand God’s plan — like when he was paralyzed on the field — Hill said he never abandoned hope or trust in God’s sovereignty.

About the film, the culmination of a long journey to get the movie to the big screen, Rickey says: "Even this movie has brought me just closer — just closer to God,” adding, “Because of what I went through, it brings me closer to Jesus Christ, because I know that this story was ordained before I was even in my mother’s womb.”

And, that's the first point I'd like to make.  Rickey Hill recognized the purpose for his life.  A purpose ordained before he was born. He now recognizes more of the specifics of that.  But, we can all recognize that God has a plan for each of our lives - of course, He wants each of us to be saved, to come into a knowledge of Jesus, who gives us the power and direction to fulfill that call God has on our lives.

Rickey Hill, in his baseball journey, experienced pain, which became a motivating force. We can develop a proper attitude toward our pain.  I think back on my conversation at this summer's Christian Product Expo with Dr. Michelle Bengtson, who has written a book called, The Hem of His Garment: Reaching Out to God When Pain Overwhelms.  She is a neuropsychologist, and wrote in a blog post a few years ago:

...our pain is not for nothing. God is true to His word, and really will use our pain for good and for His glory. Our pain is not wasted.

In Isaiah 61:3, God promises to give beauty for ashes, the oil of gladness for mourning, and festive praise for despair.

I don’t know what you are going through today. I don’t know what painful trial you or your family are suffering. But I know God can and will use it for good. Your pain is not wasted. Will you give it to Him?

What do you need to give Him today?

Rickey, as the Faithwire article said, "...grew up trusting God’s plan and his prognosis were at odds."  His physical challenges were obstacles, but Hill demonstrated perseverance to overcome. There will be trials in our lives, but those trials can produce the fruit of patience, as James chapter 1 teaches us. At the first sign of a barrier, we might be tempted to quit, but by so doing that could keep us from accomplishing what God wants to do through us.