“Ain’t no man can avoid being born average, but there ain’t no man got to be common.”
Dear God, you gave us this weird thing of free will. There was a man I used to know who would say that “everyone is born with a half-full cup. It’s what you do with the cup that matters.” My personal thought is that some people are born with more hurdles than others. The old thing of an advantaged person being “born on third base, but they think they hit a triple,” vs. the child born into poverty with a drug-addicted mother who is in and out of jail, father is gone, and grandmother is struggling to support him and his older sister. They are starting from different places. But the person born on third base can try to steal home and get thrown or tagged out, and the person starting at the plate can work the pitches until they either get the one they want or walk. The choice is up to each of us.
Mr. Paige knew that well. He was apparently a phenomenal baseball pitcher, but he was limited to the Negro League because black players weren’t allowed into the Major League. It wasn’t until he was 42, well past his prime, that he was allowed to play in MLB. So how did you use that pain and struggle in his life? How did you use it to form him? How did you use the awful, reprehensible things of racism and hate to make him the inspiration he later became?
While I was praying, a friend just told me about his wife who was laid off yesterday. I know there is hurt, fear, and pain. I pray that this hurt, fear, and pain won’t be wasted. I pray that you will provide for them, love them, and use it to bond them together. Make them one in every way: spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically. Let this be a weird answer to the prayers they’ve been praying. That we’ve all prayed.
Father, I have choices today. I can be common or uncommon. Help me to glorify you in an uncommon way. To you be the glory for the great things you have done. So loved you the world that you gave us your son who yielded his life as atonement for sin and opened the life gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear your voice! Praise the Lord, praise the lord, let the people rejoice! Oh, come to the Father through Jesus your son, and give you the glory for great things you have done.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 