I am not sure why I was dreaming about my high-school physical-education days, but there I was in gym class, all 98 pounds of me, calling for the home run.
The gym teacher wound up and tossed the ball, which couldn’t have been going more than 5 mph. And with a triumphant swing, I knew I had knocked the ball out of the park.
At least I would have, if I had hit it.
Dusting myself off (the first swing actually made me lose my balance) and picking my glasses off the ground, I again called the home run. The result, however, was the same. Three times I called it, and three times I swung — becoming the first person of the day (if not in the history of physical-education slow-pitch softball) to strike out.
I think this is something we all do (well, maybe not striking out in phy-ed). We all become a little bit conceited, or a little bit over-confident, and then we start to boast about who we are and what we can do. We start calling the “home runs” before we even hit the ball and expect to be treated like a superstar.
Most importantly, we forget the reason we have hit “home runs” in our life before. We forget that everything we have, and everything great we can do, is from God.
It’s always interesting to see how much we rely on God when we are on our knees, dusting ourselves off and putting back on our glasses, but how much we rely on ourselves instead once
He helps us get back on our feet and we’ve knocked the ball out of the park a few times. I find it even more interesting that when we start relying on ourselves, that’s when we find ourselves back on our knees searching for God’s grace.
This week, think about what accomplishments have you have had in your life. What things are you good at?
And are you trying to get other people to notice what you can do, or are you thanking God for what He has given you the ability to do?
What is the treasure in your life — your abilities or the God who gave them to you?

Harn is pastor of Victory Assembly of God and a member of the United Ministerial Alliance.