Finding Nimmo

Sitting on the bench

Baseball season is one of my favourite times of the year. Being a Mets fan, makes people scratch their heads. Knowing the Mets track record, most people assume they will disappoint. Yet being a Mets fan, there is a part of us that this deep hope.


But this isn't about the Mets in particular. There is a player on the Mets named Brandon Nimmo. Right now, he's an off the bench kind of player. Yet he's a decent player, probably better than what most bench players.


The issue he is having currently is that the Mets have a crowded outfield. The outfield has some awesome players as well but this means Nimmo has to wait. Nimmo is waiting on his chance to be a starter. He may have to wait all season or maybe be traded in order to start. Baseball really is about making the most of the opportunity you are given. Yet sometimes like life, you just have to wait.

Waiting room

Waiting is probably one of the biggest struggles of every American. It's possible it's a worldly problem but America is like the best example of having no patience. Take driving for example: when people get stuck in traffic, they will weave between lanes hoping to get to where they need. Another example, cell phones. We no longer have to wait to obtain information and we even get annoyed when we can't get it quick enough.


We live in a culture that doesn't understand the importance of waiting. This pokes it's ugly head into other parts of our lives. For example when going through trials or seasons of our life that aren't where we'd like to be. I call this the waiting room.


We all know what it's like to wait for the doctor in the waiting room. You sit in this room that is normally either way to cold or hot, with some kind of news playing, and really terrible magazines that most people don't read. I mean if you find the occasional Sports Illustrated from 2013, you are lucky. Needless to say, the waiting room is never fun.


I use to hate it because I was always waiting with anxiety. You go over the scenarios of what could happen in the room. Time seems to slow in the waiting room as well. As you can see, I never was good with doctors because I was usually there just to get shots. I hate shots.


This is what life is like when we are going through seasons of trials and waiting. Most of us will admit we are super impatient. I am definitely one of those people. Only a year ago I experienced having to wait for employment. I had just recently been let go from my job. I had to begin looking for work.


To those of you who understand looking for jobs, this was very hard for me. It was not just a few weeks of being jobless, it was two and half months. I struggled with my racing thoughts of not being good enough and a failure. My faith struggled greatly in this time. I didn't see God. Actually I thought, he did this to me because I did something wrong. Needless to say, my thinking was not clear.

Momma always said to be patience

One of my favorite sections of scripture is Lamentations 3. I love the book but chapter 3 just hits home in my times of doubt. In chapter 3, you get the author writing from a place of defeat. Here is a sample:

"I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall.
I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me."
-Lamenations 3:19-20

The reason for the authors defeated spirit is because Jerusalem had just been destroyed and people were placed in exile by the Babylonians. Jerusalem is the Holy City of Israel of God people. Yet, God allowed this to happen to HIS people.


The author mentions all the bad that had happen in the wake of this disaster. Yes, this was due to the peoples sin but remember, in the midst of the disobedient, there were Godly men and women. The author would probably be one of those if we assume it is Jeremiah. Yet just like all those who were wicked, our boy Jerry had to sit in a season of trial.


What's truly beautiful about this book is written in chapter 3:

Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him.”

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the Lord.
It is good for a man to bear the yoke
while he is young. (Lamentation 3:21-27)


I love it and get chills when I read this part of scripture. Jerry in the midst of questioning God, gets it. He's later mentions that he's not cast off forever and that even in grief, God has compassion (3:31-33). Jerry understands who God is. He understands that God's grace is still within bad situations. Waiting isn't about being punished but more so understanding that God will bring forth his redemption. He will redeem whatever situation we are in. 

Some times we need to be reminded of the fact that God is in control. That when we wait, we see redemption through Christ work. In the book "Detours" Tony Evan's says this, "The key to victory in whatever situation you are facing is not first where you are or what you are going through but rather who is with you while you're there"(75).

God's working in the moments of waiting. Evans speaks about Joseph also being in prison, and getting promoted (75). In the midst of our trials God does prepare us for what's next. He builds us up. We need to understand that when we seek Him in the midst, he answers in strange ways.

In waiting for my job, the Lord prepared me in a new way to being able to find forgiveness. I was harboring so much anger. I was so focused on my frustration of not getting jobs and feeling betrayed, he taught me to forgive. I just remember one day sitting in his presence and He told me to forgive those who I felt betrayed me. Let me tell you, in my current job, people lie, people make mistakes, and I've been more forgiving. Actually, I am able to put my feelings behind me and love them like the father in the prodigal son. It makes me better at my job.

This is a small example of waiting on the Lord and getting to know Him better. When we understand God's heart for us and what he does for us in the midst of different seasons, things aren't too bad. I mean it's easier said then done. Yet really listening for God rather than getting frustrated helps. I mean I took the more negative way but my hope in Him did come through.

Like my boy Nimmo on the Mets, sometimes we have to wait until we see what's coming. Yet in these times, take advantage of what God is giving you. Looking for what God is doing in the midst of a season reminds you his grace is enough.
Now off to my current season of waiting... hopefully I can remember what I wrote.