For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. Zephaniah 3:17
For the LORD delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. Psalm 149:4
“The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.” Psalm 147:11
Last night Sophie had her last softball game of the season and playoffs begin next week. So much has changed since our first game this year. She is now eager and excited to play but that wasn’t always the case.
Sophie tried out for Minors in softball this year and was one of the youngest girls on her team. When the season started, it seemed that she had forgotten everything she’d learned in the previous seasons of Instructional ball. One area in particular that we found to be a lot different was batting. In minors, the girls pitch, not the coaches. Some of them pitch really fast. So, most of the season – 12 games in all – I would watch Sophie step up to bat looking nervous and tentative. I watched her grip the bat with a death grip. Her whole body expressed uncertainty. I found myself whispering prayers for her almost every single time. It didn’t take long for me to notice that when she stepped up to bat, I was right there with her. My shoulders would tense. My heart would beat faster. I wanted so much for her to hit the ball.
Why? Because I have dreams for her to be a professional softball player? No.
Because I am hoping for her to get a college scholarship someday? Never crossed my mind.
I wanted her to hit because I wanted her to enjoy getting up to bat. I wanted her to know she could do it. Because I am FOR her.
Each time Sophie got up to bat, I would pull out my iPhone and record. Do the math. That’s a lot of footage. Time after time, I was recording her disappointment. I saw it on her face when she’d return to the dugout. But I kept recording each time at bat because I was hopeful that one day she’d hit.
You can imagine after 10 games of being walked, hitting foul, and striking out (sometimes without even swinging) how I cheered for her when she finally got up and hit the ball. My heart welled up with elated joy. I looked out at first base and saw her grinning from ear to ear! It was a look I had not yet seen all season.
We left the game on a high. We talked about her wonderful hit. We talked about how it made her feel. We talked about her perseverance. We told her how proud we were that she never gave up. And when I got home, I pulled out my phone and I watched it over and over – smiling as I saw her little feet shuffling in anticipation of the hit.
There was something else about the video that took me by surprise – my reaction when she hit the ball. I’ll be honest. I was taken aback. Was that screaming, squawking and carrying on coming from me? It was. Watching it, I can remember feeling a twinge of embarrassment at my unbridled exuberance. But I quickly decided that’s how love reacts.
That’s how love reacts.
There’s a reason I shared this whole story with you. Ever since Sophie’s game, I’ve thought about that video and I sense God saying, “That’s how I cheer for you.” In my failures, my disappointments and frustrations, I have felt God whispering to my heart. “I am FOR you.”
I gotta be honest, it’s hard for me to accept that God loves me like that. I have no problem believing that God is a good God, that He does good things, that He is working in my life. But believing God is cheering me on? That He can’t contain His delight in me? That’s hard to get my head around. Just this morning in my quiet time I read these words,
We have an almost endless capacity for asking, “what if?”’ and thinking of negative answers to the question. But how about these “what ifs”? What if we were completely, thoroughly loved by a God who was full of extravagant love and capable of doing whatever He wants? What if this God was constantly watching out for our best interests whether we perceived Him doing so or not? What if He was always by our side, whether we sense Him or not? What if He loved those of us who believe in Him so much that we could not possibly fail beyond repair even if we tried? What if we were so secure in Him that all our fears were unfounded? The promise of Scripture is that all these things are true. INDEED, June 3rd
What fear are you facing? Are you stepping up to bat with tensions high? Remember, God is for you. He’s cheering you on with unbridled exuberance. And He even has the power to work ALL things out for your good. That’s His promise.
That’s just how love reacts.
