Spring Training for baseball has begun! The great baseball manager Leo Durocher was once asked who was the all-time favorite player he had coached.
Lots of people were shocked when he named Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes was a little known pinch hitter, not a really big name player. Durocher was asked, “What was so special about Dusty Rhodes?” He replied, “In a tight game when I looked down the bench for a pinch hitter, some players would avert their gaze and refuse to look in my direction.
“But Dusty Rhodes would look me right in the eye, smile, and tap on his bat.” He was always available. New birth is more likely to happen this Lent to persons who make themselves available to God.
Thanks to Bill Bouknight
Do YOU make yourself available to God on a regular basis this Lent?
DON’T LET THE NOISE OF THE WORLD KEEP YOU FROM HEARING THE VOICE OF THE LORD!
My Commentary:
Spring Training has a way of stirring hope. The fields are clean. The records are wiped away. Every team believes this could be the year. That is the beauty of a new season.
When Leo Durocher named Dusty Rhodes as his favorite player, many expected a superstar. Instead, he chose a man who was simply ready. Rhodes was not the biggest name. He did not command headlines. But when the game was on the line and Durocher scanned the bench, Dusty did not look away. He looked his manager in the eye. He smiled. He tapped his bat.
Availability was his greatness.
How often do we avert our gaze when God looks down the bench of our lives? We feel unprepared. Unworthy. Uncertain. We hope He calls on someone else. Yet Lent is God’s Spring Training for the soul. It is the season when He looks for willing hearts more than polished resumes.
New birth rarely happens to the distracted or the defensive. It happens to those who look up. Those who say, “Here I am.” Those who tap the bat of their faith and step toward the plate.
God does not always ask for brilliance. He asks for availability. And when we offer that — steady eyes, open heart, willing spirit — He can do far more with us than we ever imagined.
This Lent, may we not look away. May we look Him in the eye, smile, and be ready.
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