As I was reading a book by Dr Tony Evans this weekend, he
was sharing stories from his past in athletics, including his time as a
baseball catcher. He talked of all the energy spent trying to disrupt the
batter… talking noise… or in baseball terms, the chatter.
I was clearly remembering as a young boy out in the field
yelling, “Hey batter-batter, hey batter-batter swing!” Or yelling from the
dugout when were up to bat, “We need a pitcher, not a belly-itcher!” (Yes, that
felt as weird to write as it must have sounded to anyone that was past puberty…
but to young guys we were looking for any way to distract the opponent as we
could.)
Whether we call it chatter, talking noise, talking smack,
whatever… the reality is that we live in a world that is trying to distract us.
Some of it is blatantly ugly and clearly from the enemy, yet some things seem
as harmless as Little League chatter. And like a Little League batter, we will
swing and miss, or maybe not even get the bat off our shoulder, if we listen to
this chatter/noise.
I love the story that Evans shares (Page 131, in the book
Destiny); he talks of Yogi Berra trying to distract the great homerun king Hank
Aaron. Yogi apparently was just talking to try to break his concentration but
stating, “You’re supposed to hit with the label up on the bat.” (For you non-baseball
readers, on wooden bats how the label is facing is supposed to make it more or
less prone to cracking.) Not exactly harsh chatter… But I love what Aaron
reportedly responded, “I came up here to hit, not to read.”
Mere words were not going to distract “Hammerin’ Hank”… he
would always go to the plate on a mission!
(In basketball I remember having coaches that stated. “No
girls!” during the season… felt they were a distraction to us.)
As a believer we are called to be on mission… living on
purpose! Yet, in the hectic world it is very easy to get distracted. I am
encouraging us to take inventory of our lives and what distractions we are
being affected by… that keep us from staying on mission.
Ephesians 5:15-17
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as
wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be
unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
It is when we make being in the Word a priority that we
can know God’s will… His purpose for our lives. It is when we eliminate distractions
that we can actually find out who God has made us to be… or using the word Dr
Evans uses… our destiny.
Bottom line is that we need to live smarter… subtracting
distractions… adding intentional focus on the Lord.
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