Time

Three incredible sporting events took place last night...

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth in a 4-4 tied game, facing elimination from the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series, up against Red Sox ace Uehara, the toughest reliever in the American League, Jose Lobaton hit a home run to win the game for the Tampa Bay Rays!

Kenley Jansen, pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers in game four of a best of five game series against the Atlanta Braves was trying to secure the last out in the top of the ninth while holding on to a slim one run lead. Facing Justin Upton, one of the league's best hitters, Kenley unleashed a fastball on the outside of the plate that Justin swung on and missed, the ball quickly finding a joyous home in the catcher's mitt for strike three, game over! The Dodgers won the series three games to one.

Nick Folk, his team trailing by one point, stood at the 36 yard line of the Atlanta Falcons getting ready to attempt a 43 yard field goal to win the game for the New York Jets in the last second of the game. The ball was snapped, Nick took the obligatory three yard three step and kicked the ball right through the uprights for the comeback win!

What do Jose Lobaton, Kenley Jansen and Nick Folk all have in common?

Anticipation before Exhilaration!

My iWitness...

Jose Lobaton stands at the plate. Two outs, bottom of the ninth... here comes the pitch commonly known as Uehara's "invisiball" and Jose swings... stop! Stop right there! How long between the time Jose swung the bat to the time the ball went over the fence? One second? Two seconds? Maybe three?

Kenley Jansen's arm launches a two strike fastball... stop! Stop right there! How long between the time the ball left his hand to the time the ball hit the catcher's mitt for the clinching win? Less than a second?

Nick Folk stands with head down ready to kick the football that he has kicked thousands of time in practice and out on the football field. The ball is snapped and he strikes the ball with his right foot... stop! Stop right there! How long between the time the ball sailed off of Nick's foot to the time it crossed the yellow crossbar between the uprights? Two seconds? Four?

Now, here's the question of the day...

What if in that nanosecond that we have just asked you to "stop! Stop right there" you had pushed pause on the TV remote and had to go attend some very important business matter?

What if you somehow forgot about the game and it was a day later before you remembered to return to the remote and push play?

Then, how long would have Jose, Kenley and Nick have waited in anticipation before experiencing  and the exhilaration of victory?

You are reading this blog and you are beyond excitement in anticipation of reading the next line and then all of a sudden... stop! Stop right there! God pushes the pause button of time and goes off for three years to figure something out that will change the outcome of your life and then comes back and pushes play.

How long have you now waited to experience the next line in this blog?

The reality is that Jose, Kenley, Nick and you have not experienced any difference in the time between the anticipation and the exhilaration. For them and for you the sequence of events was seamless.

But not for God who is not bound by our sense of time.

With you being the master of the TiVo button and with God being the Master of Time itself, all sorts of "time" passed between the "anticipation and the exhilaration".

Are you "anticipating" anything in particular in your life?
Just wait...
God is masterfully at work...
in His time... not ours...
before you experience the "exhilaration!"

And that's my iWitness...
Laugh often and Fear not!
David!

"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." (2 Peter 3. 8)