Are Your Gloves On?

I’m tired. Are you?

This year has been… well, nothing like I had thought.

I don’t think any of us could have imagined this year was going to be as it has been. Yet, here we are persevering through the various trials that have been thrown our way. Things haven’t looked as we had envisioned, but the Lord has allowed many wonderful things to blossom amid the chaos.

We are a resilient bunch, whether we feel like it or not.

How many of you feel stressed, overworked, overwhelmed, and tired? Tired of the heaviness that seems to be blurring the visions you had for this year. Our hope for a new beginning, the dawn of a new decade, seemingly slipping from our grip with every news broadcast, bad report, and bill in the mailbox.

The year has been tough, and there have been trials.

But God.

But God has a reminder for us. He wants to remind us that He has given us some of those amazing gloves football players use. You know the kind I’m talking about. The ones that make receivers hands so sticky they can catch any throw the quarterback sends in their direction. Those gloves give them a seemingly superhuman ability to lay hold of anything thrown their way. Footballs traveling at a high rate of speed have no chance of being dropped as long as they can get even the smallest tip of their fingers on that ball.

It seems to be a strange thing for the Lord to want to remind us of gloves. However, He needs you to realize it’s time for you to put on the football gloves He gave you. Those hopes you felt slipping from your grip are no longer at risk of being dropped when you are wearing His gloves. The grace of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, is keeping all of those hopes firmly anchored in our grasp.

We may have grown weary and tired as this year progressed, but the Lord has new gloves for us. Gloves overlaid with a fresh reminder of His grace. That grace of His is what makes the gloves sticky, so we don’t have to try and maintain a stranglehold on the promises He gave. We need to do nothing other than put on our gloves and hold our hands high. He knows that if we will allow our faith to cause us to lift our hands that He can secure the catch for us.

Maybe you’re more of a baseball fan, and your gloves aren’t sticky. You’re feeling a bit like Scotty Smalls in The Sandlot, “How do I catch it?” To which Benny “The Jet” Rodriquez replies, “Just stand there, and stick your glove out in the air. I’ll take care of it.” What faith Smalls had to have in Benny’s ability to hit the mark. It’s the perfect scene to illustrate the relational posture we should have with our Heavenly Father. Just stand there, and put your hand in the air.

Tell the Lord that you have put your gloves on, sticky or not. Stretch your hands up to our Father and get ready to catch all that He has promised to throw in your direction. He gave you the gloves, He gave you the promise, and He will provide you with the faith to lift your hands to Him in hope. Only Jesus can hit the mark in our lives. We don’t even have to know how to catch the promises He has made to us. We only need to lift our hands.

His aim is so perfect that, honestly, we can stand there just like Scotty Smalls did in that movie; arm stretched high and eyes closed. What a beautiful picture of praise and worship before the throne. We lift our hands, close our eyes, and rest in His faithfulness to place each need and hope squarely into our hands.

My only suggestion is that you do a little stretching because the weight of what He plans to do in your life is more substantial than you might expect. Start building those arm muscles by stretching them upwards to Him in praise. As your praise muscles grow, He will know that those arms of yours are ready for all the blessings He intends to throw in your direction.

Our Father is full of all wisdom, and He wants us to be able to steward the blessings He has for us, so don’t worry when it may seem that some blessings seem light. Those humble beginnings are not to be despised but should be treasured. He desires that your strength to hold His blessings will increase incrementally. He is allowing you to build endurance and confidence in His ability to provide according to His perfect timing. He never desires to crush us, but always to bless us with no sorrows attached.

I wanted to encourage you today that even if you feel tired, stressed, confused, or bewildered at all that’s going on; He still has a plan. He wants to remind you that He gave you the glove. You may have hidden it under your mattress to try and break it in, but it’s time to take that glove back out and slip it on. It’s time to stop using your own strength. Let His glove give your grip a rest.

Raise your hand, close your eyes, and He’ll take care of it.