Turning it Around

Last night my kids were playing in the backyard, and one of my daughters came running in the house saying something stung her finger and that it was hurting.

We calmed her down but then about 20 minutes later she started freaking out because her finger was getting pretty swollen. 

First, we prayed asking God to heal it, and then I had her take communion. As she ate the bread I had her visualize the pain and swelling being put on the body of Jesus, and then while taking the juice we talked about how God is always working for our good and we can trust in his unfailing love for us. 

Then we had a conversation about what I call the point of contact.

I was once giving a baseball lesson to a 10 year old kid.  As we were going through the lesson he started to struggle.  

He began to hit every ball straight into the ground and became very frustrated.  After several swings like this I stopped and showed him how to fix the problem. His swing was good but at the point of contact he was releasing his hands too early, causing him to hit every ball straight into the ground.  

Then I showed him how to make the adjustment. It took about 2 minutes but when we were done he proceeded to hit about 20 of the best balls I had ever seen him hit. Now the ground balls turned into line drives and maybe even home runs. Sometimes a small adjustment at the point of contact makes all the difference. 

Just like a pitch coming at a hitter, needs and issues are constantly coming our way. They could be people issues, financial needs, health needs, relationship needs, etc and when those needs come they are a point of contact that either allow God's power to flow or we attempt to meet our own needs by putting the pressure on ourselves or others. 

The point of contact creates a bridge of trust that allows faith in God to be released out into the world. It creates a turning point in the situation and from that moment on things only get better. The number one point of contact is taking communion. 

By the time we finished talking about the point of contact we took a look at her finger again and the swelling was noticeably reduced and almost gone this morning. 

I also told her that if it ever hurts or she starts to worry then she can use her imagination to remember the point of contact we created with communion. Stirring up that memory reminds us that the table have already been turned.