Curve Balls

God gives me inspiration from unexpected places and this week’s inspiration came from a dear friend who said, “You need to write a blog about curve balls.”  Normally, I wouldn’t be writing a blog with a baseball metaphor because my knowledge about the sport is basic at best.  I can’t recognize a fast ball from a curve ball, I am just hoping our batter hits and theirs misses.  

Curve balls a type of pitch.  Hitting a curve ball is challenging because when the pitcher throws it, it starts in one location – usually high or at the top of the strike zone.  But, just as the batter is getting ready to swing, a well-thrown curve ball will dive rapidly as it approaches the plate.  So, what the batter is expecting changes so quickly that he swings and misses.  And all this happens at an average of 70-80 miles per hour.  

Everyone reading this blog has experienced curve balls in their life.  Just when things are going great, an unexpected financial blow drains your savings or has you scrambling to find money to pay it.  A friendship you thought would last a lifetime abruptly ends and you have no idea why.  A medical diagnosis rocks your world and fear of the unknown takes your thoughts hostage.  A child makes a decision that goes against everything you’ve tried to teach them.  Your boss tells you there are budget cuts, and your job is being eliminated.  Curve balls.  Unexpected.  Tricky.  And impossible to control.

Too often, when curveballs come into our lives or the lives of those whom we love, we ask, “How could God allow this?”  Or works, “Why would God do this.”  Let me gently remind you that God doesn’t cause our pain.  He doesn’t throw curve balls.  He does, however, allow us to make decisions that sometimes result in unpleasant consequences.  That is the dark side of free will.  

Sometimes, there is nothing we have done.  Often, it is the reality of living in a fallen, broken world.  There is an enemy who delights in perfecting his curve ball in the lives of Christians.  For what better weapon than a hopeless Christian; one who blames God and turns his back on the one who created him. 

The book of Job may be the most well-known account of why God allows bad things to happen.  The suffering endured by Job is almost incomprehensible.  Job was a righteous man (Job 1:1).  At the beginning of the book of Job is a scene in heaven where Satan stands before God and accuses Job, a righteous man, of fearing God only because God had prospered him. “Strike everything he has,” Satan says, “and he will surely curse you to your face” (Job 1:11). God grants Satan limited permission to put Job to the test. Job loses his family, his wealth, and his health. 

What was Job’s reaction? “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13:15). “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21). Job didn’t understand why God had allowed the things He did, but he knew God was good and he trusted Him. Ultimately, that should be our reaction as well.  But, man, let’s be honest.  That seems like a huge ask when we feel overwhelmed, terrified, and lost.  Satan hopes that we will become angry at God.  That we will doubt his faithfulness because we don’t understand why.  After my daughter was born, I had two miscarriages.  I was heartbroken each time.  The pain of feeling life within you only to lose it is impossible to explain to those who haven’t experienced it.  I felt like I had done something wrong.  And I cried out, “How could you make me pregnant only to take away my baby?  How could you be so cruel?”  And I cursed my God.  I told Him I was done.  I put away my Bible and didn’t touch it for weeks.  Surely, a loving God would not throw a curveball like this into my life – not once but twice.  And as I reacted in my human frailty, satan rejoiced.  A broken Christian who is giving up on her God.

But my God waited patiently for me to come home.  He waited as I rounded the bases and realized the only response that offers us any hope is to trust wholly in our God.  Even when it makes no sense.  Even when it blindsides us.  Even when it is unbearably unfair.  Even when our hearts are torn to shreds.  It is in our weakest moments that our God’s sovereignty is fully on display.   

It is okay to lament – heck there is a whole Bible book called Lamentations.  Just read the Psalms.  Lamenting, grieving, even sharing your anger is expected by our Father in Heaven.  He wants you to bring all your emotions to Him, even the ugly ones.  Because in that truth God can work miracles.  When we trust totally in the Lord, God can use the worst curve balls in our lives to strengthen us, to equip us to minister to others, to teach us, and most importantly, to draw us closer to Him.

At the end of Job, God restores his health, joy, and prosperity at a level that eclipsed his earlier state.  And Job’s experiences continue to minister thousands of years later.  Instructing us how to love and trust our Father in the most unexpected moments.

I can’t tell you why bad or unexpected things happen.  I can’t tell you why the timing is often the worst.  But what I can tell you, with complete certainty, is we serve a God who loves us deeply and completely.  A God who will not let any worldly curve ball go unused for His glory.  We are unable to understand His plan.  We aren’t made to.  We are created to live in companionship with God, not be God.  God is good, just, loving, and merciful (Psalm 135:3).  

Curve balls are going to come.  The best preparation for them is to lean into God before they come.  Read your Bible.  Memorize scripture to comfort and encourage.  Surround yourself with believers who will hold you up and cheer you on.  

And never forget that God isn’t standing idly by when the curve balls come.  His loving arms are wrapped around you, His hands over yours as your grip the bat.  And with the power of God, there is no pitch you can’t hit.  And the reward when you round the bases is an eternal home so astonishing that the questions of this world will be silenced by the praises of Heaven.

When life throws you curveballs, how do you respond?  I encourage you this week to read Job and find scripture to encourage you.