My entire childhood, I always wanted to play professional baseball; I would try to reenact Chipper Jones in my front yard hitting a walk-off home runs, made SportsCenter top 10 plays by myself, and hit so many wiffleballs on the roof I lost count. My entire childhood was wrapped around sports.
Here I am, 22 years old, and my life is still revolving around sports. No complaints here.
So you’re probably wondering, “How do life and a baseball game relate?” The Illustration will be set up below.
As I was reading a few weeks ago, Matthew 7:7 grabbed my attention. It says, “Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.”
Pretty interesting verse, nothing life changing at first glance, but it has a nice flow to it… ask and I get it, seek and I find it, and knock and it opens. Seems like a relationship with God is pretty beneficial to me and I get what I want.
As I first read over this verse all I thought was, “God has my back!”
It wasn’t until God revealed this verse to me 3 more times within the next week that it really sunk in.
God makes so many promises to His believers throughout the Bible. Promises that if we believed, grasped, and lived by we would never worry a day in our life. God also calls us to take our part and pursue Him with our lives.
So what part do we play?
This verse has three things I want to focus on: Ask, Seek, and Knock. All three of these words are verbs, which require us to DO something.
What do we ASK?
ASK big questions. Ask God why. Ask God to reveal Himself more clearly to you. Ask God to do things SO BIG we can’t do on our own. Ask God to heal diseases of your loved ones. Ask God to help you financially. Ask God to put a new job opportunity in your future. Ask God to heal your wounds. Ask God for discernment.
What do we SEEK?
SEEK God daily. Seek his presence: where can I feel God the most? Seek His word: What passage gives me the most clarity? Seek Him in prayer: What is the best time for me to push aside my distractions and talk to God? Seek him in your relationships: How can I share Jesus in this relationship or how can I find relationships that are healthier and life-giving? Seek His face: Where do I see God’s beauty the most?
Where do we KNOCK?
KNOCK God places the opportunity in front of you. We already ASKED God to reveal himself in some way, we put our focus on SEEKING Him, and now what good is it if we do not KNOCK on the God-given opportunity in our midst.
This verse is so deep we can go on and on. But simply put: We have our part and God has His part. God doesn’t put a timeline in this verse on when our prayers or questions will be answered. There is growth in the process of waiting.
The bridge to this gap of unknowns is our faith.
So many people want to eliminate the aspect of faith in their relationship with Christ. Think about it. We want certainty, guarantees, and warranties on everything we have in life. Faith is the gap that believes in something that we can’t tangibly see or touch. We have to exercise this faith and trust that God knows what is best for us in our situation.
So how does this life illustration relate to baseball… one of my mentors and I were talking and this thought stuck with me. So follow me for this one!
We, believers, are the batter. We have practiced for days, weeks, and months to prepare for this at bat and this game. We have had some of the best coaches, mentors, and facilities to train in. We have gotten the best bat on the market. But WE have to swing the bat. Nobody can swing it for us.
God is the pitcher. He throws the ball. This is relatable to life’s circumstances.
Faith is not knowing what pitch God is going to throw or how long it is going to take to get to the plate, but continuing to focus at our task at hand and keep our eye on the ball (which is our relationship with Jesus) during the at-bat. We have to trust that whatever pitch God throws us, it will be the best pitch for us to hit.
There are so many uncertainties in life. But I challenge you to put your attention on God and to ASK BIG questions, SEEK His face, and KNOCK when doors are presented to you.
Comment below your interpretation, illustration, or a story on how this passage has related to you.