Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand. ~ Proverbs 19:21
When I was six, I went through one of the scariest transitions in my life – the switch from tee-ball to real pitching in Little League. It didn’t matter that it was coaches pitching soft baseballs like marshmallows across home plate. There was still a baseball flying in my general direction for the first time – and I was terrified. I would step into the batter’s box trembling, and as each pitch came in, I would dive backwards out of the batter’s box, reeling as the ball meandered its way into the catcher’s mitt. Strike three! You’re out! More like relieved.
My dad was one of my coaches, and it fell to him to teach my teammates and me not to fear the incoming baseball. Inexplicably, his solution was putting obstacles in our way to thwart our plans of backpedaling to safety. He started by laying an extra bat behind our feet to keep them in place, and eventually resorted to lying down behind us, holding our ankles fast. This served only to heighten my terror for a while: “Why on earth is Dad holding me in this scary place?”
It is no small thing when our will for our lives is frustrated. It’s disorienting, even frightening. But, my father had good purposes in holding my feet fast. First, it actually made me safer (A kid already backpedaling when the ball is thrown can’t adjust course for a truly wild pitch, and often they open up their body to the ball in their panic instead of learning to simply turn their back). Second, Dad restrained me because he desired my joy. He wanted me to learn to trust him, face my fear, and swing the bat. Anyone who’s ever played knows there are few feelings better than swinging through a baseball. Over time, Dad’s purposes for me won out, and I’ve loved America’s game ever since.
We don’t always see the reasons why God frustrates our will, but He invites us to trust, and even delight, in His purposeful will at work in our lives. He holds us, and even frustrates us at times, because He loves us. That great hymn resounds with this truth, “For my Savior loves me so/He will hold me fast.”
