Are You Making God Smile?

“It is when we are in His work that we may reckon on His smile.” – C.H. Spurgeon

I remember it as though it happened yesterday…

Our prison ministry softball team had just finished playing a doubleheader at the Fishkill Correctional Facility in Downstate NY. Whereas the vast majority of prisons we ministered in played slow-pitch, they play modified fast-pitch at Fishkill. That means that instead of the ball coming in between six and twelve feet high, it crosses the plate belt-high around 40 or 50 mph from just 46-feet away.

That being said, our veteran team was used to making the adjustment and so, we swept both games that day. Far more importantly, we shared the gospel between games including God’s plan of salvation… and many of the inmates responded by placing their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

As the daylight began to fade behind the nearby Catskill Mountains and our players packed up to leave the almost deserted recreation yard, I saw one of my teammates off in the distance. It was Larry “Chap” Lilly, our first baseman who was also a chaplain at the Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown, Delaware. Chap was facing the field with his arms lifted towards heaven, obviously praising God for what He had accomplished that day.

It occurred to me then – and it occurs to me now – that God must have had a broad smile on His face as He bathed in the sincere praises of one of His children.

May we always do our best to put a smile on God’s face each and every day… just like Chap!

“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” Psalm 22:3 (ASV)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President