It’s an exciting time of year for me now as camp starts back up. But it has been a little different from past years because a lot of tough things are being brought up in our team meetings. We’ve been talking about the death of our teammate José Fernández, about last year, and specifically about the last two weeks of the season. As a believer, I have been looking for opportunities to serve and love the people around me who are struggling. I want to show them the goodness, mercy, faithfulness, and grace of Christ.

Because each person is in a different place with the events of last year, our meetings have been emotional at times. Because a baseball team is a brotherhood, you can feel the weight of last year’s loss. I’m also noticing the guys being more open to truth, which really stirs me up. I spent the last twenty minutes of our first meeting hoping and praying that the manager would ask me to pray over the clubhouse, and though that didn’t happen, I am not discouraged. Now that the guys are all back together, I am continuing to look for opportunities to revisit with them their struggle with what happened last year.

These men are in a profession that promises them the worldly blessings of health and wealth, fame and fortune, comfort and good looks, and anything else they could ask for. When someone has been promised these things their whole life, the last thing they feel is vulnerability. But when the 250-pound Cuban pitcher who throws 100 mph suddenly—and permanently—stops showing up at the clubhouse one day, it’s pretty eye-opening for these guys. After being convinced for most of their lives that they’re ten feet tall and bulletproof, all of the sudden they realize the assumption that nothing could ever happen to them is a lie.

It’s a rare opportunity to have a room full of men whose hearts are open and looking for answers. They want to find peace and rest for their souls; praise God that His message accomplishes all those things! God’s message gives us all the answers we need. As a believer in Christ, I’m filled with the confidence of God’s truth and encouraged by the opportunity to share this hope with others.

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” —Hebrews 4:16

In 2 Kings 7 there is a story about a city that finds itself trapped. There’s an army on the outside and there’s a famine on the inside. Outside the city walls are four lepers who venture off toward the army’s camp. Long story short, God’s provisions scare off the Aramean army, allowing the lepers to come across their camp which was filled with treasures; gold, clothes, and food. Right away, the lepers start storing up gold for themselves and enjoying the wealth. But suddenly they snap out of it and realize that they have a city full of people dying back home. They recognize that they need to share the truth that saved their lives with their people. They knew they couldn’t keep this good news to themselves:

“Then they said to each other, ‘What we’re doing is not right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves. If we wait until daylight, punishment will overtake us. Let’s go at once and report this to the royal palace.’” —2 Kings 7:9

That’s how I feel in a world of hurting people who don’t know the truth. I have the truth that will save their lives—this is not my own truth or opinion, but it is the truth the Lord has revealed and entrusted to me. I feel encouraged that I have this unwavering truth at such a time as this among men who desperately need to hear it.

I know God has me in this place at this time for a reason. I’m simply trying to take one step of obedience at a time, studying His Word and seeking to be sanctified, discipled, and equipped for whatever the Lord will call me to do.

—Adam Conley

Adam Conley is a regular contributor to The Increase and will be providing monthly articles and opinions.

Check out Adam’s Increase profile here: http://theincrease.com/author/adamconley/     

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