The Center of the Universe
3 min read
Field is playing little league baseball right now which means I am officially a baseball mom.
I. Have. Arrived.
Growing up in a girl house, we never had the baseball experience (well, my sister did play t-ball for a hot second, but it was never at the little league field but rather at various parks around town), so this is all very new and very fun.
Field bats left-handed and throws right-handed just like his grandfather and great-grandfather. His great-grandfather was a heckofa baseball player who was awarded The Silver Bat for the highest batting average in a single season during his incredible career in the minors. His career in the majors was cut short by service in the Korean War, but his legend lives on in my heart and in Field’s name. It also lives on in Papa’s steel-trap memory, but he’s far too humble to volunteer the information - you’ve gotta coax it out of him.
In sum, my son is named for his great-grandfather (a former major-league baseball player), he bats left-handed, throws right-handed (the best combo, btw), and HIS NAME IS FIELD. Can we just get him a contract already please?!
Not so fast, Stage Mom McGee.
In an effort to tame my hyper-competitive tendencies while also helping Field understand the game without shoving it down his throat (tried that - didn’t end well), we bought one of those late 80s/early 90s velcro catch and toss games. I take that back - Crawford bought it without me knowing, and I feel sure he simply bought it as a fun activity, but your girl fully views it as a pivotal tool in Field’s baseball career.
So we’re standing in the front yard last night playing with the catch and toss, and a neighbor friend walks by so we start chatting.
Field gets impatient. (No idea where he gets it).
“HELLO. MOMMY. Helllooooo Mommy who talks too much. Helllooooo! MOM!”
To which I maturely replied, “Field, you are not the center of the universe. Give me a minute, and do not talk to me like that.”
He pouts but cools it, and eventually we resume the game and then go on inside for bathtime, etc.
Because God is the coolest, I recalled reading this passage that very morning:
Psalm 62:10 “Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing. And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.”
You’re probably thinking, “Um how in the world does this verse relate to a hyper mom and a 5yo playing baseball…”
Fair. Let me explain.
In the context of this verse, David is writing in approximately 985 BC while his son (HIS SON) Absalom rebels and sleeps with all of David’s concubines. Y’all, if you think your family is hard, just read the Bible for 11 minutes and be reassured you ain’t alone. So David’s son is sleeping with his many wives. Why? Because Ol’ Dave ordered the death of the husband of his mistress (aka he committed adultery and murder), and God promised to cause his own household to rebel against him as a consequence for these sins.
Let’s digest this for a minute - David, a literal earthly king at the peak of power loses sight, commits adultery and has an innocent man killed. He says “Don’t make your living by extortion or put your hope in stealing. And if your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life.” because he’s learned the hardest way possible that extortion, stealing, and covetousness lead to death. He stole a wife and killed her husband all while on the throne with money and power for dayzzzz. As consequence, his own son absolutely humiliated and disrespected him.
{Readers whisper, “how does this relate to the little league story? Is she ok?”}
Stay with me!
Is there something you could fill in the blank with if it isn’t wealth? “And if your _________ (status, success, friend group, client list, house, property, son’s baseball career, daughter’s academic prowess, closet full of designer clothes, responsibility in the church) increases, don’t make IT the center of your life.”
Asked another way, what’s that thing you’d shuffle your whole day around to accomplish? You might even tell white lies or steal time from somewhere else to accomplish it.
Your run, your workout, your 5pm cocktail, your child’s happiness, your intermittent fasting window, happy hour with your girls, your spouse’s happiness, your deadline, your hangover.
That’s it.
That’s the thing at the center of your life.
I’m not saying your son will sleep with your concubines if you keep down this path because I really hope no one has concubines or we have a whole other issue at hand, but I can assure you it will not end well for you if that thing - btw WE ALL HAVE ONE (or two or three) - remains at the center of your life.
We serve a jealous God. He wants all of you. Every bit you can give Him. He loves you beyond comprehension and longs to conversate with you throughout the day. Not because He needs you. Oh no. He needs nothing from us. It’s because He loves you, and He longs to bless you.
Bringing it full circle, I will completely confess my original intention in telling the baseball story was to relate the “you’re not the center of the universe” thinking of my son’s to the passage… but I stand here fully convicted it was ME verging on making Field the center of MY universe if I don’t keep it in check.
So we’ve all got our stuff. We’ve all got the things we obsess over and shuffle our day around to uphold. Most of these are good things! Just don’t let them become the main thing.
How do we combat good things from becoming the main things?
Start your day with a humble plea to make God the center of your life.
Ask Him to show you where He isn’t.
TRUST HIM. Pruning can hurt like the dickens, but it always bears fruit. Think of a rose bush - if you don’t trim it back, it gets wild and unruly and suffocates new growth. Trim it back and BAM. Roses.
Fast from it. Whatever it is that you cannot fathom missing for one day. Try a day without it. A week. A month. Watch what God does.
Father God, you alone are worthy of our obsessions and our tendencies of time. Only you can fill the void we’re trying to fill! In our flesh, we miss this. In our pride, we think “just this one ____” and I’ll be better, feel better, do better. You give us desires for good things Lord. In our flesh, we manipulate those desires into selfishness and self-sabotage. Whew we are weak! Thank you for loving us in spite of ourselves, and thank you for making a way back to you - every.single.time. God we ask you to make yourself the center of our lives. Show us who or what is in the way! We love you and we trust you. Please come alongside us as you strip back the crutches taking up good space for a good Father. In Jesus Name, amen.
Scripture for the Week:
Sunday/Monday: Psalm 62:1-05
Tuesday: Psalm 62:6-10
Wednesday: Exodus 34:14
Thursday: 1 Peter 5:6-7
Friday: Psalm 51:10
Saturday: John 15:1-8