God's Coaching #149

God's Coaching #149

Perfect games don’t come often in baseball—probably because they’re, well, so perfect. Not one little thing can go wrong. A perfect game is when a pitcher gets every batter out. No hits. No walks. No batters struck by wild pitches. It’s 27 up and 27 down. As of Mother’s Day 2010, there had been only 19 perfect games pitched in Major League Baseball’s modern era (that’s since 1900 when the rules were made consistent). But on that day, Oakland A’s pitcher Dallas Braden threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. It was a rare and special moment in baseball.

Then only 20 days later on May 29, Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies threw a perfect game against the Florida Marlins. It was the first season in the modern era that included two perfect games—and they happened in the same month! As if that wasn’t enough, Roy took it another step. During the first game of the National League Division Series on October 6, he pitched another perfect game against the Cincinnati Reds. That marked only the second postseason perfect game in baseball history. Talk about a career high.

What’s the Score?

Having three perfect games in a single season is extremely rare. Psalm 119:96 says, “To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless” (NIV). It tells us that all perfection comes to an end eventually. We can tell that by how rare perfect games are, even though pitchers practice every single day to try to reach that goal every time they step on the mound.

Only God is perfect. He calls us into his perfection, but we won’t be fully perfect until we’re with him in heaven someday. Sometimes we get frustrated with ourselves because we fall short or make mistakes. As long as we’re still on earth, that’s going to happen—both in our sports games and in our spiritual lives. We should always try our best, but we should also remember that God understands our human weaknesses. When we come up short, we can confess our sins to God and enjoy his perfect forgiveness. Then we need to forgive ourselves, too.

On the Ball

Are you having trouble forgiving yourself for something? Write down what it was. Then run the paper through a paper shredder. Your failure is gone. Let go of it like God has.

Coach’s Comment

To all perfection I see a limit, but your commands are boundless. Psalm 119:96 (NIV)