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HomeWord - July 25, 2007
The bases were loaded with one out, and into the batter’s box steps #17, my son. A week earlier, he had missed a home run by a few feet. I don’t know what he was thinking, but I was thinking, “Now would be a pretty good time.”
Strike one. Ball one. Strike Two. Ball Two.
As the pitcher released the next pitch, I could see that it was going to be a strike. At that moment, everything came together. The swing of the bat. The crack of the ball. It was a deep fly ball to right field, which had definite possibilities. I remember thinking, “That ball could be out of here.”
The right fielder went back the fence and looked up – a Grand Slam.
When my son reached home plate, he was mobbed by his teammates. One of the younger players watching the game ran out into the parking lot to retrieve the ball. I’ll never forget the look in my son’s eyes…it was like a dream come true.
In fact it was. All season he had talked about what it would feel like to hit a home run. I even found him after practice one day, swinging the bat and “watching” the ball as it went out over the right field fence. “Someday,” the look on his face told me.
As I tucked him in bed the night, he clutched the ball. I lay down next to him to relive the moment. “What was it like to hit a ball that far? How does it finally feel to hit a home run?” I asked.
“Good. But you know what, I still feel like me.”
I think we live with a myth that we’ll finally be somebody when we accomplish whatever it is we think we want to accomplish in life. “If only I could…” becomes the defining thought of our lives – hoping and awaiting to arrive – “… then, I’ll be somebody.”
But the fact of the matter is this: If you are not enough without it, you’ll never be enough with it.
As you look in the mirror, deeply searching the image you see, what are you living for? Are you living the myth of someday – seeing your identity and worth wrapped up in the attainment of that elusive dream?
Perhaps it’s time to remember that God sees you as enough without it, so attaining that dream isn’t going to change a thing. Perhaps it’s time to let go of the myth, and be embraced by the One who sees you as one who as already arrived.
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1. What is it in your life that you feel the need to attain in order to be loved or valued? 2. What happens if you never attain that goal? Would it change how God feels about you? How others feel about you?
Deuteronomy 7:7-8; Zephaniah 3:17; Philippians 3:7-10
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