When I was a kid, I played Little League baseball.

     There is very little I remember about the first team I played on, except I was the youngest, smallest, blindest, and was later to find out the player without any depth perception. My contribution to the team’s success was minimal. My primary function was to speed up the game, keep the score down, and help us end our innings at-bat. What I’m saying is that I was the most reliable “out” on the team. My nickname could have been "Rally-killer."

     I didn’t play a whole lot that first season or any season, in fact. When I expressed a desire to play more, it was not met with enthusiasm. I was told, “When you can play better, you

can play more.” 

     That made sense to me: it is, after all, a competitive sport, and the best players play the most. But I wasn’t sure how a kid who couldn’t see well and had no depth perception was going to improve, so for the next 15 years, I didn’t play any form of baseball. Eventually, I became a half-way decent player. (That is only half-way to being decent). After I got glasses and played second base instead of the outfield (where depth perception wasn’t as important) I developed some ability for the game.

     Now at the same time, I began coaching Ponytail League, with Mike Kennedy and I heard

a completely different perspective. I didn’t know if parents had changed that much over

the years, or if kids had changed that much, or if the concept of competition has changed...or whether it was because it was girls, but I frequently heard people express the opinion that everyone on the team should have equal playing time—whether it’s a kid who lives and breathes the sport, or a kid who doesn’t know the difference between a double-play and a double-header—everyone should get the same amount of playing time,regardless of their ability and irrespective of their commitment. 

    You may be able to get away with that in Little League, but that’s not really how life works. We don’t all get equal opportunities in life, because we don’t all have equal abilities. We’re not all able to handle equal amounts of responsibility, and we don’t all share an equal level of commitment. 

     So what we do get in life is opportunities to match our abilities. That’s because God will give you as much as he can trust you with.

That is what we will be talking about this Sunday.