I really dislike baseball.  In fact, if you ever find me at a game, I am only there for the hot dogs and the fellowship with friends.  I will never be able to tell you what those little signs mean-you know, the ones the players make with their hands?  Yeah, those.  No idea.  And I won’t care who wins or what the final score is.  Like I said, it’s not my thing.

The other morning, I was praying for a friend and this verse came to mind: “And cast all your cares on God, for He takes care of you.” (1 Peter 5:7, italics mine)  I felt impressed to look up the definition for the word, “cast.”

To cast-to throw something forcefully in a specific direction.

I suddenly got this very clear mental picture of standing in a pitcher’s stance.  Baseball gripped in my right hand, brow furrowed in serious determination, I was poised to throw.  A short distance away stood my catcher.  Wearing a white robe and a smile, there stood Jesus holding a catcher’s mitt.

Now, before I lose you (because I know how spooky the term “vision” sounds), let me tell you that I no longer put limits on how God moves.  I’ve experienced Him WAY out of the Christian box I thought He came in.  Images are just one of the ways the Holy Spirit speaks to me.  Sometimes it’s personal, sometimes it’s for others.  Yes, I know it sounds a bit woo-woo.  I will even confess to you right now, dear reader that I really hesitated writing this.  Afraid I would be misunderstood, or thought of as “weird,” I almost didn’t.  But a friend of mine once said, “I’m learning to embrace the woo-woo.”

So one after one, I launched my worry baseballs…anxiety baseballs.  Hurling them as hard as I could, and putting my whole body into the pitch.  Jesus caught every one.

I shared this vision with my friend and spiritual director.  Her response was, “That sounds really playful.”  Playful.  “Yes….it does,” I replied after a pause.  It occurred to me then, that perhaps I take my faith-walk too seriously at times.  Perhaps I forget that my Savior actually enjoys being with me.

It may be that this is one of the reasons He tells us to “cast our cares.”  Because once the weight is lifted, once the baseballs have been thrown, our hands are emptied.  The tension has been released and our shoulders fall a bit farther away from our ears.  And we may not even know what to do with that kind of freedom.

This is what we do my friends…we take delight in Him.  We talk to Him, listen to Him, laugh with Him and sometimes just sit with Him, savoring His presence like a good meal.

Friend, He came to lift your burdens.  He came to set you free.  Could it be that we walk heavier than He intended?  For me, the answer is a big, fat yes.

So let ’em go.  Throw ’em to Jesus.  And listen to Him cheer you on as you run the bases of life.