A few months back my supervisor, a national and myself took the bus to a local area to meet with some pastors and to discover any other Christians that might be living in the area. This would be the same trip that a pastor told us the leeches were too big.
Monsoon season is currently coming to an end, but at this time it was just beginning. The bus ride we had to take was about eight hours long so we caught the bus at around seven in the morning. The sky was overcast and dark. This I have learned is how it is every morning during monsoon season. We started with just a few people on the bus but as we made our way out of the city it began to fill up. There were people, luggage, potatoes, goats and many other things and the next thing I knew we had made out way onto the roof rack and were riding on top of the bus. The sky was still a dark shade of gray, but now we were starting to climb. Kathmandu sits in a valley and to get anywhere outside of the valley you start with a nice climb. The bus began to wind it way up the mountain and suddenly the sky began to change. The clouds had not left the sky though; we simply had climbed above them. We were now looking out above the clouds that had moments before blocked out all of our light. The sun was always there, we just could not see it splendor. I was immediately reminded of another time in my life.
Any one that knows very little about me knows that I love the great game of baseball. I wanted to be great and I worked to that end. My freshman year of college, I was playing at a Community College and my baseball castle was beginning to crumble. I had worked hard, but no matter how hard I worked it only seemed to get worse. I could not hit a beach ball with a tennis racquet. I had been relegated to the end of the bench and split time scoring the game with another member of the “never get to play club.” It was a hard time in my life. I asked God to help. I wanted to be great and He was not allowing me too. I was crying out to a God that seemed so far from me. Then it got even worse.
We had a road trip one weekend against one of the better teams in our conference. I was excited about the trip, but when I got ready for practice the day before I heard my last name. I do not completely know why, but the last name is what ball players go by especially when it is the coach talking. He called me into his office and told me flatly without much explanation that I would be staying at home that weekend. I wanted to fight back. I deserved to be on that trip. I had worked hard for that team. I had done all that was asked of me. I wanted to ask why, but honestly I had been defeated weeks ago. I was not even good enough to keep the books. I trudged through another practice and instead of heading back to my apartment I headed towards beautiful Lawrenceburg. I did not think missing one day of class would be a big deal and I did not want to be seen at class when the rest of team had gone. The weather on this day was similar to the weather often experienced during monsoon season. The sky was over cast and seemed to want keep people in state of dreariness. I had been on the road for about thirty minutes and it is very possible that my cheeks had felt the warmth of a few tears. I was coming over one of the rolling hills that beautiful songs are written about and as I topped it I noticed something. There was a rainbow on the horizon and for a moment I felt like my King had returned to me in my moment of doubt. For a moment it was a nice thought but I think deep down I did not really want him to be there. This being the case I did not give it too much of a thought though.
I heading down the hill and after a few minutes looked to see the rainbow again. I was disappointed though as the rainbow had been replaced once again by the grayness of the spring afternoon. I realized that my God had left me. He had become fleeting to me just like the rainbow He had created. I began to climb another of the Promised Land’s beautiful hills and something happened. I once again was given a view of the same rainbow. At that moment I began to cry again but this time not at my failure. I cried ashamedly before the feet of my King. The rainbow had not left nor disappeared. I simply had lost sight of it. The king had not gone anywhere. I simply let things that do not effect eternity get in the way of my view of the Eternal One.
How often this has been the case in my life? There are very few things this world has to offer that effect eternity, but we treat so many of them as if they do. Baseball as cool as it will be to play next to the golden streets, has zero effect on eternity. I was broken hearted about something that will one day follow the fate of the pay phone. Baseball will not last, neither will jobs, degrees, cars, homes, or even church buildings, but so often we treat them as if they will. Why do we lose sight and of a eternal God while worrying about the non eternal. God is there, He will never leave or forsake His, but his concern was not for me to get another hit. His concern was for me to make his eternal name great.
