“My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
– Psalm 73:26

Babe Ruth was arguably the greatest baseball player of his generation. A quick review of his career statistics bear this out. A lofty batting average of .342 to go with 714 home runs, 2873 hits and 2,213 RBI. In 8,399 official at  bats, Ruth was successful getting on base over 47% of the time. In the long history of the game, Ruth still ranks in the Top Ten in nine offensive categories. With all of Ruth’s offensive prowess, it’s easy to forget that he also struck out 1,330 times. What this means is that one out of every seven at bats, Ruth put his bat on his shoulder and walked back down the dugout steps without putting the ball in play. Baseball is often called a game of failure and it has broken many strong and talented men. The secret to success is to keep swinging! Some days, the line drives are caught and on other days, they find the gaps. But you have to keep swinging to have a chance.

Life can be like that sometimes. It can consume us and make us want to leave our bat in the rack. Why bother, I’m only going to fail again. Such thinking never serves us well. As Christ followers, we must remember  when we’re doing all that swinging and missing, God is still with us. He doesn’t abandon us when we are striking out and pick us up again when the base hits begin to fall. Jesus is there in the good times and the bad. He loves us just the same, whether we feel like a failure or a success. What makes Him smile is our commitment to keep swinging and trust Him with the results.

Heavenly Father, give me the strength to keep swinging through the hardships of my day. Help me to remember that You are always with me. Amen.