I remember many years ago when I was helping coach a 16 and under girls’ softball team. We were in the national tournament and playing in Florida. I was the first base coach and one of our young players was struggling with the bat.
On this particular play she reached first-base on an error and I was talking with her about what had happened. I told her “You are trying too hard”, which she quickly answered with, “coach, how can I ever try too hard.”
She was right. How can you ever try to hard to accomplish something? I realized at that moment I should have used a different word or phrase on what I was trying to convey to her. Neither of us were wrong in our conversation but I confused being over-anxious with trying too hard.
Many of us in our daily lives will witness to people about Jesus however we muddle our words or phrases and send the wrong message. We are so anxious to get our point across that we get pushy with our words and confuse the person we are talking with. Sometimes this will work but most of the time we push them away.
Witnessing to people about the love of Jesus Christ takes bold actions on our part and in our words. Being Christian we all realize that the Holy Spirit resides within us and will lead us in our conversation if we will allow him to do so. Many times, we use scriptures to help us with the message, however the person or persons we are talking with wants to see Christ in us. How is our language when we are around people? How are our actions when we are annoyed with someone? How easily do we become angry or agitated when we are confronting problems? There is an old saying that goes like this; “I’d rather see a se I know many of you are wondering how in the world softball has anything to do with witnessing for Jesus. Let me tell you I played and/or coached ball for over 50 years, and I have seen a lot of witnessing on the field of play. Actions speak louder than words!
The young ladies I was coaching watched me. They listened to what I would say and how I would say it. They questioned me when they did not understand what I was saying. They watched me in my daily walk of life and saw how I acted in the community.
The young ball player that asked, “How can I ever try too hard?” got my attention. I knew what I wanted to tell her but miss phrased the words. You can never try too hard, but you can get so excited or become over-anxious in what you are doing and not accomplish what you are trying to do. When this happens, we at times face rejection or get a defeatist attitude. Patience and attitude are great attributes to have, and they make life easier when we exhibit them in a Godly manner.
Prayer: Thank you Lord for the opportunity of working with young people. I pray that I exhibit the witness to them that you would have me to. Amen.v
