The longest 5 seconds of my life took place at the ballpark.  I was there to spectate as my middle son was on the field – right field – the one with cobwebs because the baseball so seldom arrived there.

Musical genes in my family run rampant, but the athletic ones are as rare as hen’s teeth.  And of course, he was also hindered by an attention deficit that mirrored the national debt.

I was always there to support him.  I wanted him to succeed.  I really did.  But it was lonely out there in right field.  He saw less action than the nerdy boy at the Middle School dance.

The game and the season were only one out away from ending.  Our team was up by one run, but the visitors had a heavy hitter at bat and the bases were loaded.  The tension was thick.

Suddenly the crack of the bat split the sky, and the ball rocketed towards right field.  The noise jarred my son awake.  He saw the ball and was positioning himself to snatch it.  If he blew it, the game would be lost.  To catch it would be a mighty victory. 

For five infinitely long seconds, I was sweating bullets.  I had been in that position myself a few times and usually fumbled the ball or missed it all together.  But I badly wanted better for him.  My prayers ascended as the ball descended.

I watched as the ball finally smacked the center of his glove – and he held onto it.  e defied our expectations The coach went bezerk – so did I. 

Like most fathers, I wanted my kid to succeed.  But for some strange reason, when it comes to our heavenly Father, we sometimes suspect that He is indifferent when it comes to us.   

He doesn’t care about how we do at work, or about our grades at school.  He yawns at obstacles that stand in our way.  We aren’t sure He really wants to help.  Some of us think of Him as that dad that never attends the game when we play.

But in reality, God wants success for us.  

Check out what He once said to us through Zephaniah the prophet.  “The Lord your God is in your midst; he is a warrior who can deliver.  He takes great delight in you; he renews you by his love; he shouts for joy over you” – Zephaniah 3:17.

We understand here that God is in the stands cheering us on.  “He takes great delight in you; he renews you by his love; he shouts for joy over you.”

But He also does something that I could not do for my son.  He enters the playing field and intervenes.  “The Lord your God is in your midst; he is a warrior who can deliver.

How does He intervene?  The Lord gave Nehemiah favor in the eyes of the King so that he could pursue his passion to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 2:5).

The tabernacle in the wilderness was waiting to be constructed.  So this is what the Lord did, “So Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person in whom the Lord has put skill and ability to know how to do all the work for the service of the sanctuary are to do the work according to all that the Lord has commanded” – Exodus 36:1-2.  The Lord gave skill and ability to those people to give them so they might succeed at their task. 

And then there is this; Proverbs 16:3, “Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

God truly wants us to succeed in what we do, although sometimes He will stand in the way until we realize that its by His enabling grace that we are able. 

So be encouraged.  Our Father is in the stands rooting for you and on the field working for you.  You have what you need to succeed!  

A PRAYER: Lord, remind us that we are never ever alone in this life.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you

Scripture passages are from the NETBible ®