Aug172025
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Remember in Hard Times that God Always Wins.

It was the bottom of the ninth inning. The Yankees were one out away before sweeping the Red Sox and winning a ticket to the World Series. Kevin Millar was the next batter. He is, in my estimation, the worst clutch hitter to play baseball. He was facing the greatest closer in baseball history, Mariano Rivera. Millar did not get a hit, but he managed a walk. When he got to first, they replaced him with the newly acquired speedster, Dave Roberts, to run the bases. He stole second, and Bill Mueller got a hit, and the game was tied. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning, the Red Sox won the game with a David Ortiz walk-off. After that, the Red Sox systematically defeated the Yankees over the next three games. Next, they won the next four games of the World Series. What made this championship so special was not the fact that they finally won after eighty-six years. It was the way they won. The worst hitter meets the greatest closer.

Jeremiah, the prophet, was thrown down a well and left to die in the mud. What do you think he was thinking at the time? I am not sure, but I know what I would be thinking. “I took a chance with God, I followed His instructions, and this is where it got me, and I lost.”

Jeremiah is not the only one in the Bible to take a gamble. God promised Abraham he would have lots of children and lots of land. After God made the promise, Abraham was sent to sacrifice his only son. At the last second, the son was spared. Immediately after that, Abraham’s wife died, and he had to buy a burial plot. After following God faithfully, Abraham is left with one son and a first-time land owner of a 4’-by-8’ plot in the cemetery. I know what I would be thinking. “I took a chance with God and I lost.”

Look at the Apostles. They left everything to follow Christ. Some had great careers. One of them, in fact was a tax collector, the dream job in the ancient world. What went through their minds when their Leader was arrested and killed? I know what I would be feeling. “I took a gamble and lost.”

Do you see a pattern here? The pattern is this: God always wins. What makes God’s victories so great is the way God wins.

When we feel like we are in a hole and can’t get out, like Jeremiah, know this. We will be a part of a story that will have a fabulous ending.

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