Thursday, July 17, 2008

Enjoying Suffering for the Greater Goal

During our softball game tonight, I made a play at shortstop that involved diving to my left, fully-extended in the air, and snagging a ball destined for center field. It was probably one of the sweetest sports plays I have ever done. The aftermath was a mouth full of dirt, a shirt covered in it, a broken necklace, and a very sore left shoulder. But none of that mattered when I began in pursuit of the ball or after the catch. It was completely worth it for the greater goal of getting the out.


In light of the catch, this same tolerance (and even joy) of pain or persecution can be experienced as a Christian. As a Christian, we are not promised a simple or easy life (Luke 9:23-26, 2 Corinthians 11:24-28, 1 Peter 4:12-14). But suffering (or on the opposite end, the pursuit of safety) will not be our primary factor(s) of consideration if our physical and spiritual eyes are set on the greater purpose of pursuing Christ (his fame, kingdom and the spreading of it).

All of a sudden, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 starts to make a little more sense:
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal
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3 comments:

Lisa said...

niice.

Brian V. said...

Nothing like an awesome defensive play to make you feel like you rock the world.... but I also remember a sweet sequence from the 2006 NP Wiffle Ball championship game that gave us the title. I seem to recall that you hit a 3-run jack where you almost caught up with the baserunner ahead of you, then you had to leap to dodge an attempted "peg" right around home plate. That it was a season-ending, championship-earning "walk-off" made it that much sweeter!

Josh Mathews said...

Haha Brian...great memory! That was definitely the highlight of my "semi-sports" career. I'm not sure if I would include whiffle ball with the major sports like soccer or basketball.

I remember Al Scott giving me the green light to hit away when the count was full. As I was approaching home, Danny Stevens had the ball and attempted the peg. My dive to avoid the peg ended up being over home plate. Luckily, the ball had gone past the backstop and there was no issue getting back and hitting home plate!

Wow, that just brought back a flook of great memories! Thanks!