JULY 20, 2026

   "If you want to figure out the players that will go on to bigger and better things, look at how they fail, in a game of failure. It’s easy to stand tall in baseball when things are going well. But those who stand tall while getting shelled – which happens in baseball often – and shake it off prior to the next outing or at bat, those are likely the players to look for in the multi-tiered stadiums at a later time."

- The Mental Game of Baseball 

PSALM 31-33

16No king is saved by the size of his army;

no warrior escapes by his great strength.

17A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;

despite all its great strength it cannot save.

18But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him,

on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,(33:16-18)

ACTS 21:15-40

27When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.” 29(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple.)

30The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Get rid of him!”

JOURNAL 

The more I read Paul's journey to Jerusalem, the more I realize that his peace did not come because his circumstances were favorable. He walked into a city knowing that arrest, violence, and suffering awaited him. Yet nowhere do I see him wishing he were somewhere else or longing for an easier assignment. He was fully present in the day God had given him. His heart had already surrendered tomorrow, so he was free to live today. His peace was not found in the hope that things would work out but in the confidence that he was exactly where God had led him. Obedience, not outcomes, had become his security.

So much of my life has been spent measuring a day by how closely it matched my expectations. If things were difficult, interrupted, or painful, I quietly wished I could get to a different day, a different season, or a different set of circumstances. But Paul reminds me that today's assignment is not a detour from God's will. It is God's will. There is no better place for me to be than faithfully living the day He has placed before me.

The quote from The Mental Game of Baseball captures this beautifully. Great players are not defined by the days everything goes right but by how they respond when everything seems to go wrong. They remain composed because their identity is no longer tied to the result. In the same way, a follower of Christ is revealed not when life is easy, but when obedience remains steady in the face of disappointment, criticism, uncertainty, or failure.

Today is a gift, not because it promises comfort or success, but because it is another opportunity to walk with God. I am breathing, thinking, choosing, loving, serving, and working. Those are extraordinary gifts. To spend today wishing it were different is to overlook the very gift God has placed in my hands. My calling is not to chase a better day but to be fully obedient in this one.

Unlike Paul, I am not facing an angry mob or the threat of death. But I am simply being invited to live faithfully in the ordinary moments before me. To teach well. To coach with passion. To encourage someone who needs hope. To love my family. To work with excellence. To surrender tomorrow and embrace today. That is enough. In fact, that is everything. For if I can learn to find peace in obedience instead of outcomes, then every day, regardless of its circumstances, becomes a glorious day.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^a whenever you face trials of many kinds,

JAMES 1:2