Third Base Coach

Our two sons ventured into the world of baseball this year...wow, what memories this brings back! Growing up in Varina, a rural community just east of Richmond, VA, baseball was big in the summer. And just as it was 30 years ago, the concession stand is the main attraction! Here in Newport News however, they load up a golf cart and travel around to all the fields, what modern day conveniences!

However, some things are still the same, the game. Especially the aspect of players learning to follow the direction of the coaches, regardless of their own personal inclinations. When the coach says to keep running, you keep running. When the coach says get down, you slide. When the coach says...you..., simple isn't it? Who's your coach in life? I know that I often have my own personal inclinations, they may be right or they may be wrong or they may just be mediocre when excellence is within my reach. I want to know that just as it is for my kids running the bases, there is someone actively involved in my life who knows exactly what I should and shouldn't do next. And unlike a coach, The Coach always makes the right call!

In 2 Chronicles 16, we find a story of Judah's King Asa being attacked by Israel's King Baasha (this was during the years of civil war among the 12 tribes divided among Judah and Israel). King Asa seeks a neighboring kingdom's king, Ben-hadad of Aram to ally with Judah by attacking Israel from the north forcing King Baasha to fight on two fronts. The plan is successful, King Baasha withdraws his attack and Judah safety is secured...or is it?

Hanani the seer comes to King Asa and on behalf of God, rebukes him for seeking the King of Aram's aid instead of first seeking God's help. King Asa was cruising around the bases and he never looked up to the Third Base Coach for direction. Let us not misunderstand God's anger. He is not jealous that King Asa did not need His help. Certainly King Asa's plan from a military standpoint was a stroke of genius. However, God is trying to help us gain a greater victory, one over the inclination of our human nature to be self-reliant. We will never fully reach our potential in life apart from God and His constant, abiding direction giving voice.

Even when the path forward seems clear, stop. Look up. What is your Coach telling you to do? Trust Him...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes...
(Proverbs 3:5-7a)

Pastor Fred