Caught in a Pickle

"he will be chased"

Job 20:8

Today was a Saturday in April, which means I got to attend a Little League baseball game.  And what a glorious spring day we had on which to enjoy it!  White clouds, blue sky, mid-60's, and the ocean off in the distance. 

Breaks my heart that it's forecast to be in the 90s next week...  

But I digress. 

One of our players got into a rundown* between third and home during the game, and as the boys on the opposing team played their game of tag, I explained to my daughter ~ who really only tolerates baseball ~ what the runner's goal is during a rundown.

* For any others who might not know what a rundown is:  it's when a runner gets caught between two bases and two or more fielders work together to try to tag him out.  The runner, meanwhile, is trying to outsmart them, and make it safely to either base, without being tagged.  

Fun fact:  a rundown is also called a pickle.

The runner obviously wants to avoid being tagged out, but odds are that he's not going to get out of his situation successfully.  For starters, it's two (or more) against one, and they're closing in.  His only hope is a throwing error on the part of an infielder, or that he's agile or sneaky enough to evade being tagged as he runs past the guy holding the ball.

So he's thinking about his own destiny of course, but more than that, he's thinking about the runners behind him.  And he knows that his job is not just to try to avoid being tagged out, but also to stay in the rundown long enough for the runners behind him to advance to their next base.  That way, if he gets tagged out, at least his teammates will have benefited.

Isn't that a wonderful way to approach a tricky situation?  Why not try it the next time you're not sure which is the best way to go?  Keep praying, keep trying to move ahead, keep trying to solve the problem the best you can... but be thinking about someone else in your life, and how they might benefit.  Maybe there's someone in your circle of influence who might be blessed by how you handle the pickle you're in.  So take your mind off your troubles, and see what you can do for someone else's troubles!

~ "let us pursue the things which make for peace

        and the things by which one may edify another" ~

Romans 14:19

~