Pitch Clock

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul (Psalm 23: 1-3, NIV).

I ran into a friend recently who’d just come off of a really tough week. We spent a few minutes chatting as he shared all of the major events that had popped up over the course of a week or so. No rest for the weary, as they say.

You take a vacation to slow down, relax and get some rest. You celebrate as you watch someone you love reach a major milestone with graduation. You receive the news and grieve the loss of a dear family member. You celebrate with student-athletes as they’re victorious in their respective sport. You’re faced with a major to-do list of prepping for a summer leadership event.

What a rollercoaster, right? Boom, boom, boom. One thing after the next. Life can be hard in this way. It can leave us feeling worn out, weary, and exhausted if we aren’t careful.

Can you relate to walking through a season of life like this? Maybe it’s a tough week. Sometimes it’s a long month. It might even feel like the weariness has lasted for years.

Later that evening I was praying for my friend. I began to think about how we must continually step up to the plate of life. Often it’s without adequate time to truly celebrate, grieve, rest, or process all that our heart needs before we’re forced to face the next pitch.

As I continued to process and pray, my mind was then drawn to a recent rule change in Major League Baseball. In an attempt to speed up the game, pitchers now have 15 seconds to throw a pitch when nobody is on base, and that time is increased to 20 seconds when there are runners on base.

Though the rule applies to pitchers, it has a significant impact on the hitter. It’s routine, and taught, for a batter to step out of the box between pitches. The function of this pause is to take a breath, check in with your coach, and prepare your approach to the next pitch.

Doesn’t it sometimes feel like there’s a pitch clock in life? We’re so busy. Schedules are slammed from sun up to sundown. We move from one thing to the next, and often without taking time to pause, rest, and focus on our Creator before we step back into the routine of life to face the next pitch.

As was the case for my friend, sometimes this is a result of things outside our control. Other times, it’s simply because we are not intentional enough to step out of the box.

This week I would like to encourage all of you to spend some time in Psalm 23. Verses 1-3 tell us: The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.

It’s easy to allow the external pressures of society to keep us from stepping out of the box to take a breath. Don’t succumb to the pitch clock of life. Instead, choose to pause, look to our creator, and allow Him to plan our next steps.

#christ #thenarrowpath #faith #MLB #obedience #psalm #jesus #baseball