Old Men & No Hitters

To my readers,

For me, nothing beats watching a live baseball game. Last night I went with a group of friends to watch my local team, the San Antonio Missions. I was looking forward to this night all week. It was the perfect way to begin the weekend.  Little did I know I’d watch something amazing.

Last night I witnessed a no-hitter. 

It’s a great and rare thing to see.  In fact, there have only been 272 no-hitters in all the history of the MLB. How lucky am I to witness something so rare firsthand?  

Sadly, it wasn’t the Missions that had the no-hitter but their opponents, the Frisco Rough Riders.  The last pitch thrown caused an entire sea of red jersey’s to invade the mound.  The game was over and my team had lost. 

Talk about a downer.

In the scriptures an old king named Solomon writes his memoirs in a book called Ecclesiastes.  In here he writes,

“I have observed something else under the sun.  The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle.  The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy.  And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.” Ecclesiastes 9:11, NLT.

The truth is sometimes we lose.

Sadly we wont always win.  We won’t always have the right answer.  We won’t always have the strength to keep running.  We won't always have victory after victory. No matter how prepared we are, eventually we all will lose. 

But who likes to lose?

I know that I don’t enjoy losing.  Losing has always given me the idea that I was a failure rather than a great player who had an off night. For you, maybe it isn’t losing a baseball game.  However, loss is something we will all experience. We will all lose, however it’s the way we react in these situations that show our true colors. I am not saying that we cannot have emotions, but we cannot let them overcome us.

If we overreact to losing, what does that tell us about our faith? 

Turn your focus on Jesus. Follow the example he set for us.  Not every city he visited accepted him with open arms, but he continued forward enduring everything, even the death on a cross to redeem us. He didn’t let the losses outweigh the greater purpose that the Father had for him. 

When you lose, let it go and move on. Keep moving forward towards what Christ has called you to no matter the cost. Never give up. Press forward and have hope that tomorrow will be a new day.  

Simply, 

Tex G.M. Rule

“I have observed something else under the sun.  The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle.  The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy.  And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time.” Ecclesiastes 9:11, NLT.