Win the Inning

Is there a more important verse for us today than these words from Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount? “Do not be anxious about your life” (Matthew 6:25).

We live in an anxious age. A virus keeps us home and wondering what tomorrow will bring. School starting makes us worry about our kids, both about their health and their education. Working from home (for those who can) presents challenges we weren’t ready for, especially if you have school-aged kids doing online school. If we can’t work from home, we wonder if we’ll get sick, if we’ll infect others, if we’re doing what’s right. We’re juggling a lot, and without our normal social interactions, the weight feels heavier than ever for many.

Jesus’s words about anxiety are fit for our days. We may not worry about food or clothing, but we still worry about our daily needs. We need the exposing question Jesus asked his disciples on the mountainside, “Which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27). We know it does no good, but we can’t seem to stop. We look at the days ahead and wonder how we’re going to make it.

Here’s how we’re going to make it: one day at a time. “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble” (Matthew 6:34). Jesus doesn’t tell us there won’t be trouble tomorrow, only that today’s trouble is enough for today.

WIN THE INNING

There is another place we can look for this kind of “short-term” focus. Maybe it’s not the most popular sport anymore, but baseball still models life more than any other. In this shortened season due to COVID-19, teams are faced with more challenges than normal. It’s a sprint after a long layoff. And with illnesses and injuries, the rosters are bigger than ever and young players are getting more chances than ever in The Show.

My favorite team, the Atlanta Braves, have their fair share of obstacles to overcome, especially on the pitching mound. Reality has not cooperated with the plan, and younger guys have had to step in to fill big voids. With so little experience and such a great responsibility, their marching orders are simple and to the point: “Win the inning.”

A young pitcher easily gets overwhelmed. To face professional hitters with even your best stuff on your best day isn’t easy, and once they see your stuff a time or two, they catch on quick. Baseball is a game of strategy just as much as skill, and if you over-think it, you might very well mess it up. So instead of thinking about winning the game, you have to think about winning the inning. Win enough of those and you just might win the game.

Just win the inning.

CONSIDER THE LILIES

Baseball innings consist of three outs. Get three outs and you’ve won the inning. Even a long inning only lasts a matter of minutes. With life as crazy as it is, let’s not over-complicate it. Getting through 2020 sounds daunting, doesn’t it? And as good as 2021 sounds, we don’t know what it holds yet either. We don’t have to.

Just win the inning.

When Jesus says not to be anxious about tomorrow but to focus on today, he’s speaking to our temptation to look farther than we can see. We don’t know what’s coming, and that unsettles us. But Jesus knows to live in fear of what may come is an opportunity for today’s faith. We have what we need right now in Christ. God is watching over the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. He’s watching over you too.

You can’t do what God can do. He can see tomorrow’s troubles. And you can’t create what God can give. He’s already out there with his hands full of grace and mercy for you. But he’s also here today, sustaining you as you look to him moment by moment.

Maybe this year more than any other, you are facing one overwhelming obstacle after another. You’re not alone. In a year like this, we’re all rookie pitchers, alone on the mound, hoping our next pitch is the right one.

Just win the inning.