WEDNESDAY'S WORD - CULMINATION - 10/10/18 - Sadell Bradley - New Life Covenant Cincinnati

In 1988 one of the greatest home runs in baseball history was hit by Kirk Gibson of the LA Dodgers in the World Series against the Oakland A's. Gibson was pinch-hitting in the bottom of the 9th inning. Both of his legs were injured. He miraculously hit a two-run walk off home run that won the first game in the series. Momentum swung in the direction of the Dodgers who were underdogs that year. It was voted the greatest moment in LA sports history in 1995. In a documentary about the event, Gibson commented that the home run was, "The culmination of a lot of failures that in the end brought a lot of joy." (paraphrase) CULMINATION means the highest development or climactic point of something, especially as attained after a long time. I could see Gibson flashback and recall all of his missteps, failures, regrets, injuries, questions, and frustrations. They all washed away for him in one shining moment that would forever seal his future in history. So very powerful.     Most of us have not yet reached the apex of our lives, careers, or ministries. Like Gibson, we may have entered this point of the game an injured and unlikely candidate for heroism, swinging our last at bat with the game on the line. We're taking what we believe is our best shot in a scenario where all the chips are down, yet everyone is still counting on us. So much history has led up to this point. We're unsure what the outcome will be...but we're going to take a swing as if our lives and the future of our team depends on it. You usually don't see photos of people staring up at, or even climbing the side of a mountain. When they arrive at the pinnacle, the most successful point, they're ready to celebrate! They take in the accomplishment and the view from the top, and want to share it with the world.        Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, "The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one."  Years of struggle and waiting humbled Kirk Gibson, which gave him the proper perspective in his moment of triumph. For some of us, the culmination is just around the corner if we don't give up and swing with all our might in our bottom of the 9th moment.

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