The brand of baseball we play where I coach isn’t fancy or glamorous. It’s pretty boring, really. Our goal is to put pressure on the opposing defense by bunting, running, and being aggressive. Most of the time, it works. In today’s game, however, it’s harder than ever to get players to buy into that style. Far too often, we like the flashy stuff, the individual hero efforts that we think we see on TV and in the highlights. Even so, we keep at it, believing that it will work as it has always worked.
Simply put, we trust that it works so we do it.
Each time he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, Jesus answered with what he knew and what he trusted: the Word of God. Just like our small ball approach, living by the Word of God is often ‘boring.’ It’s not fancy or glamorous. It’s just walking with God and obeying his word.
Turn the stones into bread, Satan suggested. My life isn’t found in food, Jesus said, but in obeying my Father.
Jump from the temple and the angels will save you…everyone will believe then, Satan urged. Testing God like that is a sin, Jesus responded.
Take a shortcut, avoid the cross, take what is rightfully yours…just bow to me, Satan told him, and it’s all yours without the pain. Get out of here, Jesus told him…I worship my Father alone.
The question for Jesus in each scenario, in each temptation, was simple: Do I trust my Father?
In each inning, the question is the same: do we trust our game plan?
In each temptation, the question is the same: do we trust our God and his word?
Trusting God isn’t fancy or glamorous, but it’s at the heart of overcoming every temptation and knowing the Father more intimately as a result.
Do I trust God? That’s the question in every inning of life.
