“Desperation is the raw material of drastic change.” — William S. Burroughs
I played one season of Little League, and I was terrible. My batting average was .000. In case you aren’t familiar with how batting averages work, that would be the equivalent of high school me asking every single girl in our city on a date and still sitting at home eating Oodles of Noodles.
What made it even worse was the fact that my sister was on my team, and her batting average was .600. I guess that means she went on more dates than I did.
It was a long season, and at some point all I wanted to do was get on base. I just knew that if I could make it to first base, I had a shot at getting to the Major Leagues. First things first, though, I had to get a hit.
Unless — cue the devious movie background music — there was another way.
That’s when I decided that the next time I went up to bat, I would get on base. I would get a hit, mostly because I knew that my dreams of playing professional baseball started with me actually getting on base.
So, I grabbed the bat, hit my cleats with it (seems like I’d seen cooler players do that, and I needed to try anything), and leaned in for the pitch.
More specifically, I leaned into the pitch. I literally made sure the ball hit me, and couldn’t stop smiling when the ump told me to take my base.
This was it! My baseball dreams were coming true. Now, all I needed to do was steal a base or three, and agents would be waiting for me in the dugout. It was a foolproof plan, and I’m sure it would have worked if the next batter hadn’t struck out, ending the inning.
It was the only time I ever made it on base, and it only happened because I got creatively desperate.
Desperate people do that, or at least the ones who don’t mind looking foolish.
Four guys who needed to get creative so they could get their friend to Jesus (that’s Mark 2:4).
A woman who decided to try touching the outer cloak of a passing Rabbi (that story is in Luke 8:43-48).
A powerful man dipping multiple times in a nasty river (it happened in 2 King 5:10-15).
The point? Don’t just get desperate; get creatively desperate. Willing to trust, willing to try, willing to lean in to what God can do.
After all, leaning in got me on base, even if it didn’t get me in the majors. And for somebody who was batting .000, that was more than worth it.
You’ll find it worth the risk, too.
