In the Batter's Box!

Valentine’s Day, 2008 (Thursday),
Some things are just too good not to share with others and the following is one of them; it is one of the responses I received from a long-time and dear friend in regard to yesterday’s perspective (I am sharing it without her permission, so please pray that she doesn’t demand a royalty!):

Bless you, dearest Mac. I wish that I could tell you I have no idea what you are talking about, but alas, I do. I am also ready to concede that this curve ball batting practice is most assuredly the "normal" Christian life. At least it is if I accept that He is sovereign, and I do. It has been the tenor of my life for the past....oh, a lot of years. I suppose in my own life, it is His way of reminding me that I have absolutely NO control over what He deems necessary to bring into my life....the only thing over which I have absolute control is my willingness (or unwillingness, as the case may be) to surrender to whatever He has for me in this particular "at-bat." I want to also rush to assure you that I am not speaking to you from the spectator's stands....I am in the batting cage at the moment. The most consistent message I have been getting from Him of late is, "Don't be afraid, I'm here." My first reaction to that is, 'Well, why don't You DO something about this mess?" But he points me back to the first phrase above. I guess that’s when I realize that He's all I have, then, and ONLY then do I also realize that He's really all I need. God's kinda like that, ain't He?

Wow! This is what I call creative writing at its finest, not to mention, incredibly honest, the kind of honesty that makes most religious folk nervous! If she were my student, I would give her an A++ and that is for sure! To tell you the truth I am jealous; however, because it is “righteous jealousy,” I think God is OK with it, so don’t worry about my having to get right with Him. Now don’t turn your nose up at my notion of “righteous jealousy”; if He permitted “righteous indignation” then surely He permits “righteous jealousy”! Anyway—
After reading and listening to your responses to my recent perspectives, and now with the added perspective of “Foxy Roxy” (my friend’s alias), I am convinced that we could put together quite a baseball team, if we were of a mind to do so. Since most of us are already in the game, it shouldn’t be too difficult! Because I played first base for all of my baseball career, I will go ahead and claim that position and leave the others up for grabs. I do not think, however, the position we play really matters; what matters is whether or not we have the intestinal fortitude to stand in the batter’s box to face curve ball after curve ball from a Pitcher, who seems to have no control. Yes, I know that He has perfect control but when I am standing in the batter’s box, it seems that He is out of control, at least much of the time. My friend’s “Don’t be afraid, I’m here” sounds really good, when I am sitting in the bleachers watching the game from afar; however, when I am in the batter’s box, it sounds more like, “Duck, you fool; this is going to be a bean ball!”
Isn’t it your time to bat? I certainly hope so, and Lord knows I hope you are better at it than I (but I am old, you know, not-to-mention, nearsighted)!!