When last year’s National League MVP, Giancarlo Stanton, was traded from the Miami Marlins to the New York Yankees in December, high expectations were placed on the slugger's performance for this season.
Stanton got off to a rough start, however, with 115 strikeouts in 83 games and a batting average of only .222 at the beginning of May.
The rabid Yankee fans have been impatient with Stanton's shaky transition and even booed him early on. With his monster contract and the spotlight always on the Yankees, everyone has been anxiously waiting for Stanton to get back to playing at a high level.
Thankfully, Stanton appears to have turned the corner after his rough patch, hitting ten home runs since June 1st and having a .280 batting average for the past seven days.
A headline on ESPN.com reads “Giancarlo Seems to Have Found His Comfort Zone.” Coley Harvey's article goes on to explain how Stanton is improving as he settles into his new team. Knowing the type of player he’s been, it’s great to see he’s found his “comfort zone” and appears to be back on track.
In our own lives, we experience times of transition, uncertainty, setbacks, and struggle. These can be shaky situations when we don’t live up to expectations and are failing and striking out more than we're succeeding and hitting.
We also know what getting booed and being criticized feels like. When forced to deal with challenging situations that make us feel out of sync and lose our rhythm, we end up wanting to "find our comfort zone."
The question we have to ask, however, is where do we turn to find comfort? When life is difficult and we’re "not hitting home runs," do we look for activities to numb the pain and pursue temporary pleasures to distract us?
Or do we turn to God as the ultimate comforter? When everything seems to go against us, what gets us through? Do we cling to the hope we have in God and trust Him during the rough patches in life? Do we choose to make Him our “comfort zone?"
The Bible gives us this amazing perspective in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV): "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
Today, as we wait for our circumstances to change, let's remember we have a “comfort zone” in God...and His mercies are readily available to us right now.
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I pray You would comfort me right now. I place my hope and trust in You, knowing that true and lasting comfort is found in You. Thank you for Your mercies and providing me with what I need to get through this challenging season. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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