Get Back Up

Today was a pretty relaxed day but it was rather long and it was very busy. I know that relaxed and busy do not really go together but I played to baseball games so it was relaxed in that sense and busy in that I was gone all day playing baseball. I have had a lot of time to myself this weekend due to the fact that just about everyone went home for the Easter weekend and I am one of the few that is left on campus. I honestly do not know what I would have done today had it not been for baseball. I would have had to spend tons of time with God because I know that without him I probably would have been in a wold of trouble with so much free time. I still found time to stumble but was quick to get back up because I knew better than to be in the state in which I was. It is funny how you can spend your whole life trying not to elevate your status and you just go out and be yourself and people wonder why you are not somewhere else. The thing is that we all have plans and we all have God's plan for our life and he leads us on the Journey that he sees fit for us. We make decisions but he sets those decisions before us and provides us with the opportunity to follow certain roads that will give us experience as well as guide us in our adventure. When we fall down he is right there and his grace is enough for anything that we do. He is almighty, alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, he is all-knowing, and he is the one who provides for all our needs. No one can match him in size, love, power, wisdom, grace, greatness, or any other category you can think of. The God that I serve is the only one who is sufficient for everyone. The key word in there is serve and I need to do a better job in fulfilling that role.

Whenever I struggle I tend to look for verses that will speak to me and give me additional assurance that he is still there for me as long as I continue to work towards him. Feeling like you just can never do right when in reality you do not mess up that much is a hard thing to overcome. It is so much easier to focus on the bad over the good because our conscience is the one that is dominant in our minds and when we mess up we think about it more that when we are successful. In baseball, hitting a home run or even just getting a hit can be one of the best things to do, but the joy of that only lasts a little bit because if you strikeout in the next at bat then all you think about is the strikeout, the home run or hit means nothing in your mind because you struck out and you feel as though you are better than that. The same holds true when it comes to sin, you can spend so much time without sinning but when you do, it sticks with you for a while and it is hard to let go of. We see in Proverbs 24:16, "for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity." When you strikeout, you have to just get back up to the plate again and forget about the last time. Just keep fighting and striving for perfection because that is where true happiness lies. As Paul stated, we must fight the good fight and finish the race, do not give up on the calling that has been placed in front of you. You are stronger, you can overcome, and you will be a better person because of it.

"And if you should fall again

Get back up, get back up
Reach out and take my hand
Get back up, get back up
Get back up again

I hope you all had a great day and remember the resurrection, the death is meaningless unless he came back and the good news is that he came back! Enjoy Easter with your families and be thankful for the day which we commemorate what Jesus overcame!

God Bless,

Joseph Robinson