When Life Throws You A Curve Ball

by Olga Hermans

You know a curve ball starts one way and then goes another. A well-thrown fast ball is predictable – you know where it is going – and because of that, it is fairly easy to hit. But a curve ball is different. The pitcher makes the ball curve by pulling down on it with his fingers as he releases it. The ball spins diagonally and then curves.

When I say a curve ball, I am referring to an unexpected problem, a surprise obstacle or a twist in the way you thought things were going to happen. For example, you thought your marriage was going to be everything you hoped for and you thought you were going to live happily ever after. Then you found out that it wasn’t the way you thought it would be.

Maybe you were hired for a new job and you thought it was going to be a certain way, but you found out you had a boss or an employee that was a real pain in the neck. That was a curve ball. You did not see it coming. It started out the way you thought it would, but suddenly there was a change.

Sometimes you get those balls that are thrown at you that are just crazy and you don’t know what to do with it. You’re thinking: “how in the world am I going to hit that one?”
I think about what happened to the disciples; they weren’t counting on Jesus dying. Jesus was their savior; He was their King and all of a sudden He is hanging on the cross and they are hoping that He will have a comeback and then he gets buried.

That was curve ball for them, they weren’t ready for that and they didn’t know how to hit that kind of a ball.

Have you ever had a curve ball in your life? Something happened unexpectedly, something you didn’t plan on. Maybe somebody in your family died or maybe your parents got a divorce.
Maybe something happened that you didn’t see coming and you had no clue whatsoever to do with the situation? The disciples had to make a choice; was their faith going to be based on the circumstances around them or continue to carry on what Jesus told them to do?

When I was 18, my father died unexpectedly. I remember the day that my mom and dad were going to a birthday party of a friend. They were dressed up and I remember my father making really nice compliments to my mom, how good looking she was and all that. All 5 of us always enjoyed it so much when he was “dating” my mom.

Anyway, off they went. At the party while he was dancing, he fell on the floor and had a heart attack; he never stood up again. It was devastating to my mom and all of us; she was speechless, she just couldn’t get her mind around the fact that he was gone. It was a very, very tragic moment for all of us; our life was never the same thereafter.

There are many times that people are not correctly handling problems and obstacles in their lives because they have failed to make an adjustment in their timing. The point is this: Most of us are accustomed to handling things straight on, so it can be very difficult when we get a curve ball thrown at us.

There are situations in our life where we feel we are totally undone because of something unexpected and unwanted came into our life. You have to make choice. You can be destroyed and fall apart or you can bounce back and hit that ball!

You can look at it this way: in the ocean there are sharks, but in the boat there is safety. You can stay in the boat (Jesus) and cross the ocean (go through life in this world) and the sharks will not get to you. In Christ there is victory, joy and peace. In the world, there is tribulation, but in Christ, you can go through the world overcoming every circumstance and situation. It doesn’t change the things that are in the world; it just changes your ability to overcome the world.

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Iron Sharpens Iron

by Olga Hermans

Have you ever thought about who you want to hang out with? I want to be around people who are hungry for God. They have a sense of direction in life, but they also have this hunger for God and in this hunger for God they want to please God with their lives. I love it when people know where they are going and know what they want to do.

I love to be with them and let it rub off on me. I listen to them and ask them how they got where they are now from where they were. What was the most important choice that they made in their life and what was the worst. How do they make tough choices? What motivates them and so forth.

It is very important to know to whom people listen to. I think that, that is very important to know because you want to have the same source of influence in your life. Sometimes people are in church with great issues in their lives, they try to fight great temptations, but they are scared to go to somebody and be open about their life. So, they keep it to themselves and keep it as a secret. We need accountability in our life.

You know, when iron sharpens iron, sparks are going to fly! One person is chasing after God and the other person is not chasing after God, so when you confront a person on issues that are ungodly, sparks are going to fly.When there are no sparks flying then it is probably not a relationship where iron sharpens iron. But we need someone who is going to confront us on pride, selfishness and lust.

What about personal greed and jealousy? You want to be with people who are going to challenge you to take you forward in your walk with God and in your walk in life.You know, friends that you are able to bounce things off on and when they are able to put you in check; you are going to put them in check as well.

You actually need three types of people in your life:

1. Somebody who pours into you, somebody that you gain knowledge from; the ins and outs of life. Someone who helps you to stay focused on your vision that you so desperately like to accomplish.

2. Somebody that you can bounce things off on; somebody that can challenge you and build you up if necessary.

3. Somebody that you can pour into, all the knowledge that you gained can now flow into the life of somebody else.

Col 1:3-5 says: The Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.

We need that, don’t we? We need comfort, but then there are times that there are other people that God calls us to bless in a relationship. They need what we have to speak into their lives. Most importantly we can have relationships where we can confess our faults one to another so that we can be healed.

And at the same time, we can affirm each other; “I believe in you, I know that God has great things in store for your future, this is not the end; things like that seem to encourage us in a great way. Prov 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Ecc 4:9-10 “Two people are better than one because together they have a good reward for their hard work. If one falls, the other can help his friend get up. But how tragic it is for the one who is all alone when he falls. There is no one to help him get up.”

Two heads are better than one.
~John Heywood

Walking with a friend in the dark is
better than walking alone in the light.
~Helen Keller

A true friend never gets in your way
unless you happen to be going down.
~Arnold H. Glasow

You weren’t meant to go through life alone. God created you for a relationship. Relationships that will encourage you and strengthen you and challenge you. But more than anything, God wants a relationship with you Himself. God wanted a family from the very start; He wants you as a part of His family.

You can make a choice today to surrender your life to Him. He is a very good iron sharpener 🙂 Most important is that He loves you no matter what.

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