Every Thursday night and Saturday morning, you can find me on the diamond, coaching baseball. Well, actually it’s tee ball. Ok, tee ball for three and four-year-olds.  Otherwise known as herding cats.

I really love coaching these kids. But some days I’m tested. A few weeks back, we were attempting to practice. It was 95 degrees and humid. The kids were distracted, even for toddlers. I had two players whizzing behind a tree…together, one running for the hills (literally), a la Forrest Gump. Another with his knuckle shoved up his nose, like a booger-seeking missle. Yet another sniffling and calling for his daddy while ramping up the heebie jeebies.  Another stirring up a cloud of dust with his sneakers. Another pulling at my shorts, asking to play duck duck goose (he wanted to be the cow). And then there was my son. Waiting patiently in the field, in the ready position, anticipating a ground ball coming his way. He was focused. He was locked in. He was listening to me. (If only we could replicate this behavior at home on a consistent basis!)

I was proud of my son that day. He made a decision to listen to the coach and commit to the game of baseball. He wanted to get better. It wasn’t because his dad was out there coaching. Like I just said, he has no problem NOT listening to me whenever he feels the need. That attitude is what I am finally bringing to my walk with God. What we all should bring.  

Psalms 37:4-6 – Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.

What I’ve noticed since I truly committed to this journey, since I finally reached a place where I truly yearned for a closer relationship with God, is that I’m a lot like a kid on a baseball field who is actually paying attention to the coach. Who is committed to getting better. Even my mistakes have positive results. For anyone who has played a sport, you know the feeling of hearing a whistle blow and the words, “Let’s try that again!” A coach doesn’t just cheer you when you succeed, they teach you when you fail. Every time you mess up, the coach is there to offer insight and advice If you listen, if you truly listen, you are going to get better.  If you are just playing ball on your own without a coach, or not actively listening to the coach you have, your mistakes will just keep happening and you may not even realize what you’re doing wrong or how to fix it.

Recently, when I step off the path, make a wrong turn, get caught up in poor behavior, I hear Coach. That is much different than it used to be. But because I’m tuned in to my sin, and because I’m finally ready to listen, I’m getting coached. When I make a mistake, it’s a learning experience, not just another mistake. And I’m getting better as a result. Instead of going off-road into a ditch and then off a cliff when I goof up, I merely spend a few moments on the shoulder and then find myself back between the lines.

My son will grow his baseball skills this season if he keeps his focus and commitment. I think many of the other kids will as well. As long as our recent practice becomes a distant memory. After all, whether they are listening or not, I’m there every Thursday and Saturday, coaching the entire time. Offering advice. Correcting mistakes. Teaching lessons. God is a lot like that. So, if you can’t hear Him in times of sin, when you make a wrong turn, then I ask you: Are you committed to the game? Are you  listening? Are you genuinely interested in getting better? Because once you are, you’ll be able to hear Him as clearly as a whistle in your ear.