I stood there staring in unbelief. With eyes squinted I took a step closer to the softball field in hopes that I could overcome my less-than-perfect distance vision. Certainly that couldn’t be her running, I thought. Surely she wouldn’t be playing so soon. Not after what had happened.
As she turned around, a smile spread across my face and I realized that it was indeed her. Tenacious her.
Sprinting the terrifying sixty feet from home to first once again.
It was her. Absolutely amazing.
You see, to most observers that day, Rachel was just the next number on the batting order. Just another player. Just another face. Sure, she wore a helmet while batting, but otherwise nothing seemed out of place. But to the knowing eye, Rachel was a trooper. Just weeks before she lay there bleeding. Her world spinning. Her head throbbing. Others sprang into action, and soon she was receiving care inside an ambulance on her way to the ER.
It was during her run to first that a fielder had stopped the ball and attempted to throw her out. It was a hard throw, but the ball never reached the mitt of the first baseman. Rachel, knowing the play would be close, ran with all she had. As she neared the bag, it happened. The ball missed the first baseman by just enough to nail her in the back of the head, splitting it open. She would later receive seven staples to her head.
But Rachel is a trooper. An example of what we can be like as we walk through life.
At times the pain can be so severe that we are all but crippled by it.
In the last few years, there have been times that making it through one day became a daunting task. The pain of betrayal, the grief of loss, the anxiety of the unknown, and the death of dreams were a reality in my life. Each time I conquered a day, closing my eyes with thoughts of thanks to my Savior, I felt as though I was a small child celebrating the victory of first steps taken. Yet at times, the next day would land me face down, knees throbbing, struggling to hold on to hope. Thoughts of fear and hurt would swirl around me as I cried out to Him.
Yet in those moments, I must remember that “we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.” (Hebrews 10) Just prior to this verse, the author of Hebrews writes that we “have need of endurance.”
The Christian walk is more like a run. A LONG run. At times a HOT run. Difficult terrain. Competitors elbowing us as we round corners. Spectators sneering. Side cramps nagging. And then we are injured. Staples pounded into the back of our head.
But like Rachel, we are not of those who shrink back.
With head still throbbing, we reach down, lace up our cleats and take the field. We turn our gaze from the hurt to the Healer. From the wound to the One wounded for us. From our fears to the Faithful One who has gotten us this far.
“Looking unto Jesus...”
