A few nights ago my two sons and I were watching my beloved Atlanta Braves play baseball. It was the top of the 9^th inning and my Braves were losing by one run. They were one out away from starting the season 0-2. As the clean-up batter stood at the plate with two strikes, I told my boys the game was over, frustrated that through two games the Braves had only managed a couple of hits. Then with one swing of the bat, the ball sailed over the fence and the Braves tied the game. That hit seemed to spark the offense because they scored three runs in the 10^th inning and won the game.

What a valuable lesson for my boys and me. Sometimes we feel like the game is over and our team is going to lose, but we never know what is going to happen with the next pitch. Our team just might hit a game tying or even game winning homerun. We must never lose faith.

Right now it is easy for us to be frustrated, anxious and maybe even depressed. We may see the news or hear reports and feel as though our team, the church, is losing. We may even feel like we can never come back and be victorious because our world is too messed up and life seems so different. At times it sure feels this way, doesn’t it?

However, I want to remind you of something that I too sometimes forget. You never know what is going to happen with the next pitch. And here’s the thing, I don’t know what is going to happen, but I do know this: God is still in control. He is still sitting on His throne and there is nothing that can happen in this world that will ever cause God to be removed from the throne (Psalm 45:6; 47:8; 103:19).

We may feel like we are in the bottom of the 9^th inning with two outs and on the verge of losing. However, unlike our favorite sports teams, our spiritual team cannot lose (Dan. 2:44). We have the greatest manager in charge of our team. And no matter how inevitable a loss may seem, we must look up and remember we have the Lord on our side. He already has been victorious.