It's been 16 years since I last played in a Church League softball game. I was never that great at baseball or softball growing up like my younger siblings. Football was then, as it is now, always been my favorite and the sport I was best at. But as you get older church softball seems to be the way to go. I started playing it when I was a Youth Pastor years ago in Wilmington, North Carolina. Kannapolis, Lancaster, Rock Hill, Greenville, Powdersville were cities where I pastored and played and mostly enjoyed every minute of it.
I made some decent plays when I was playing, but I was never the hero of the game. But one night I made a catch that was the greatest that I had ever made playing softball. The only problem was no one seemed to care and it didn't decide the outcome of the game. The only one it really mattered to was me.
It was in a practice game in Rock Hill on a Thursday night. I don't remember who was batting or what team we were playing, but I was playing center field. The hitter was not a long ball hitter, so our coach called all of us outfielders in just a little. About that time the batter hit a high fly ball that was sure to be a hit. I took off running toward the center field wall looking over my shoulder at the ball. At the very last moment just a few feet from the wall I stretched out my glove hand caught the ball on a full run, did a somersalt due to my momentum, got up, turned and threw out the runner on second base. He had taken off for home thinking the ball was going to fall safely. I jumped up and down like I had won the World Series, got some pats on the back from my outfield mates, but the next batter came up and the play was forgotten.
Nobody cheered, the crowd didn't go wild, and I didn't get a ring. In fact in spite of my greatest catch of all time, I didn't even start the next real game we had. I was a benchwarmer that night because we had so many players on the team that were better than me. Nobody that saw the remarkable catch and throw I made during that practice game the night before even remembered it. Nobody celebrated the greatest catch of my life because it was not a real game and it really didn't count against our record.
How many times has God done something that only you experienced and when you told others about it they weren't phased a bit? Or how many times have you done something for God that was a great accomplishment for you, yet went unnoticed by your peers or spiritual overseers because it didn't match what the guy with the big church had done? Hey, it's happened to all of us in our lives at least one time-maybe more.
That's when we have to remember it's about pleasing God and being content within ourselves that we did the best job possible that really matters. I have found myself pulling away from my peers recently because all they seen to want to talk about are their numbers and statistics. I'm not proud of it, but I can tell you I have the lowest fiscal numbers of my ministry and have worked harder here at my church than any place I have ever pastored. Honestly, it's been about to kill me because I don't have the results I have had at other places. Sometimes I sit and pray, "God, why don't the things work here that have worked in other places I have pastored? What am I doing wrong?"
But then the Lord reminds me about that un-celebrated catch that I made that night that didn't really matter to anyone but me. He reminds me that that night I made my best effort in spite of seeing no great reward or superstar recognition. He reminds me that I was determined to catch that ball and throw out the base runner in spite of not being the greatest or the best player on the field. He reminds me that even though it went unnoticed by even my own coach when we played a real game the next night, on that practice game night I gave it my best effort. I did what I set out to do when I started running after the ball-I caught it and threw out the advancing runner.
No matter what happens in the future, I know that I have given DCOG my best effort. I have done what God called me to do and I'm still trying to rebuild a once great ministry into one even greater. No, I'm not the greatest preacher, but I do the best I can do. Not the greatest singer, but I put everything I have into every note that I sing. Not the greatest pastor, but I sure try to be there when my people need me.
I am saying this on a day when discouragement is at bat and aiming for the fence. But guess what, I'm trying to stop him before he gets on base. If I can do that and nobody knows, who cares-I've already won!
The same can be said for you. Maybe it's time to make the greatest catch of your life. So what if nobody celebrates it or it doesn't make the front page, God is keeping the record and sees every event in your life. Stop discouragement before it stops you. Take the field and start running for the fence because you can stop it every time by just simply making the catch. Believe me, it will be the greatest thing you can do in your life if you get it out before it scores.
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