I played softball in high school and in college and no matter how hard I tried I could not throw a curve. It wasn’t for lack of trying that’s for sure. I practiced and practiced till it hurt to throw. I finally came to the realization that because my hands and fingers are about as big as a child’s that I just couldn’t grip the ball right to get the spin on it to work. Now that didn’t mean I didn’t stop trying. I kept throwing them in games but to be honest they didn’t look much different from my fast ball. But every once in awhile it would work. I’d have gripped the ball just right, released it at just the right moment, stepped off the mound at just the right place and it would curve. Most of the time I’d get a swing and a miss or a strike from it because it worked so infrequently that the batter had no idea it was coming. And that’s when I’d put this cheeky grin on my face and look at my coach all the while thinking “yep, I had it planned the whole time.”
Well, life has a way of throwing curve balls. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does I am often caught off guard and had no clue it was coming. I stand there wondering how in the world did that happen? Or where was I when all that was going on? I just became the batter who just watched the pitch go by not knowing how to hit it. I’m instantly put on the defense instead of the offense which is not always the best place to be. Life can be turned upside down and inside out in the blink of an eye and suddenly your comfortable life isn’t so comfortable anymore.
But God uses these curve balls to His advantage. He uses this time to stretch us, to push us to our limits, to break the rut we’ve been in, to help us examine ourselves, to mold us. It’s all for Him to help us grow and change and not stay stagnant. I mean have you ever felt like you have been stuck and you can’t get out?
Well, I’ve decided that from now on I’m going to use these curve balls to my advantage instead of letting them derail me. I’m going to ask myself what God is trying to teach me (because you know He is). Am I listening to Him closely enough to see what He’s stretching me toward? See if I stay in the same place at the same level doing the same things how is that helping Him? He’s never let me down and He’s never led me through a tough time without it being better than it was before on the other side. I will never gow closer to Him or put ALL my trust in Him if I never get tested. It may not always be pleasant, but that’s how we grow. So I’ve decided to push myself to the limits, to let God stretch me, break me if necessary and let Him put back the pieces so that when I come out on the other side I will be closer to the woman God has made me to be.
And I see God up there with a cheeky grin on His facing telling me “yep, I had it planned the whole time.”
