Although basketball is my favorite sport (followed by football), I grew up watching and playing baseball. Almost everyone from New York is a Yankee fan, and I am no exception. I still remember watching games with my Dad and playing shortstop on the concrete field inside the fence at Holy Redeemer Elementary School in Freeport, New York. One of my first ambitions was to be a major league pitcher. Unfortunately, I did not have the patience necessary for all the mechanics involved. I just wanted to throw the ball. But throwing the ball is much different than pitching the ball.

Pitching is one of the most intricate actions in the entire sport of baseball—so intricate that there is an extensive vocabulary to describe the various types. Fastballs, sliders, breaking balls, and curveballs are the basic varieties in the pitching lexicon. Of these, the curveball is probably the most difficult type of pitch to master, and is also the type of pitch that produces more stress on the arm of the pitcher and more confusion on the part of the hitter.

According to one definition, a curveball "is a type of pitch thrown in baseball and softball with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate.” A curveball is hard to throw and even harder to hit. A curveball is designed to fool you, to disguise its true intent, to appear as if it is headed in one direction and then proceed in another. Now you may not know anything about baseball, but all of us know a thing or two about curveballs. Life throws them at us all the time!

We all yearn for predictability, stability, and routine. I learned in high school biology that all living organisms seek homeostasis, which is internal stability. For example, our bodies will do whatever is necessary to maintain a constant temperature of 98.7 degrees. Should our bodies reach any temperature below or above that number, warning signs will begin to manifest. That is because our bodies are optimized to function at that precise, predictable norm. We all seek homeostasis in every area of our lives, and the lack thereof causes enormous stress. This is one of the reasons why the past two years have been so challenging to navigate. Life has thrown us one curveball after another, making it almost impossible to conduct our lives with any degree of predictability, stability or routine. Whatever “normal” was is no more. And none of us know what the next normal or the new normal will be.

But perhaps things were never normal. Perhaps we simply adjusted after the last curveball that life threw our way. And perhaps learning to live is largely about being prepared to deal with whatever curveballs life throws your way. Because one fact is certain: another one is coming. Soon.

Consequently, we cannot approach life in the manner that Naaman did in 2 Kings 5. The scripture informs us that he was an impressive, decorated official in the Syrian government. However, he had a terrible disease. Naaman learned that there was a prophet in Israel named Elijah who had a reputation for performing miracles, so off he went to Elijah’s house seeking an intervention. When he arrived, things didn’t quite go the way that he imagined. Elijah threw him a curveball. Elijah didn’t rise to greet him, and then had the audacity to tell him to go dip 7 times in the Jordan River, a river which was notoriously unsafe and unclean. Naaman wasn’t expecting this odd set of instructions. The scriptures relay his reaction:

But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage. 2 Kings 5:11-12

I am not sure what Naaman was expecting, but bathing in a dirty river wasn’t it. He almost missed a miracle! Fortunately, Naaman was surrounded by a wise support group who encouraged him to revise his expectations, not dismiss the possibilities, and obey the prophet. He did. And he was healed.

This story provides a helpful strategy on how all of us can handle the curves that life throws our way. When life throws us a curve….we can throw life a curve!

The best way to manage curveballs is to understand that they are “learning curves.” We must grasp the fact that every curve that comes our way is designed to teach us something about God or about ourselves. God was trying to teach Naaman that you cannot predict how, when or through whom your blessings may flow. And God was also trying to teach Naaman that his pride was worse than his leprosy, and that frequently we are the barrier hindering ourselves from obtaining the outcome we seek.

When life throws you a curve, don’t spend so much time trying to straighten it out that you miss the lessons that it is designed to teach.