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“God hates me,” Tim announced to the empty room. He picked up the baseball sitting next to his bed and tossed it in his hand. He had come all this way to play ball. This was his dream. He had worked hard, he had trained, he had done everything his coach said he needed to do.

He grasped the ball tightly. The day he had been scouted and signed to play for this minor league team was the best day of his life. He had been so happy and the future had seemed so bright. Everyone was happy. His parents were over the moon and Josie was thrilled for him. He always wanted to play baseball and now he finally had his chance. He turned and felt the sharp pain in his shoulder.

It wasn’t fair. One wrong move on a pitch during practice and suddenly his shoulder hurt. He tried to ignore it and ice it just like the trainer said. The next night after when he tried to pitch the pain was so great he couldn’t. So he was benched. They put him through physiotherapy and had different trainers work with him but nothing helped. Then there were x-rays and doctors and more tests then he could imagine. No one could figure out how to fix his shoulder. He had pretty much given up when a doctor agreed to some exploratory surgery to see what was wrong.

Tim slumped back in his bed. He had been so hopeful, but in recovery as soon as he saw the doctor’s face he knew there was nothing that could be done. He tried more doctors and more tests but all of them said the same thing. They couldn’t fix his shoulder. The damage was just so severe. They all told him that if they tried they probably would end up making it worse.

“Why do you hate me God?” Tim asked. “I’ve tried to be a good person. I know I haven’t been in church that much but I pray and read my Bible? Why?”

Tim’s phone chirped and he picked it up, it was  a text from Josie wanting to meet him. It chirped again and a second text arrived. She said there was a trainer who had run across an injury similar to his in the past. Tim dropped the phone. Yeah. He had done every exercise and every therapy possible. There was no hope.

“Why? Why?” Tim reached for the Bible and his shoulder twinged and he dropped it on the bed. He reached to pick it up and saw the story from Mark about the blind man calling to Jesus for healing.

“Jesus, your healed him. Why can’t you heal me and take away this pain?” Tim cried out. “Jesus save me. Please.”

The tears swam down his face. His phone chirped again and he picked it up to see another message, this time from the team. They were reminding him that because of his injury that he was being dropped from the roster at the end of the month. Tim lay on the bed and wished that he was dead. He wished that he could do something. He wished for something, some sign, some help.

“Why won’t you help me Jesus?”

His phone chirped again and Tim braced himself for even more bad news. It was a message from someone he didn’t know saying Josie had given him the number. The fellow explained he was a trainer who had helped other people with a similar injury but he didn’t promise he could heal Tim or not. He just made an offer to meet with him and made an invitation to talk to the coach of the college team that he worked for. Another message followed from Josie asking what he thought.

“Why do they want me to meet the coach?” he typed back. “Don’t they know I’m injured?”

It didn’t take long for a reply. Josie explained they were having problems with their pitching and were willing to look at him as a pitching coach on staff while the trainer worked with him. Tim thought for a few minutes. He wanted to pitch not coach pitchers. This offer certainly wasn’t an answer from God. He reached to pick up the Bible he had dropped earlier and he read how the blind man had called out to Jesus and that other people told the blind man that Jesus was telling him to come and be healed. Tim continued to read how the blind man trusted what they told him about Jesus and rushed forward.

Tim picked up his phone. He didn’t know if this trainer and job offer was the answer to his prayers or not. But he realized that unless he moved forward, he would never know so he typed that he wanted to meet with the trainer and would like to talk to the coach. He sent the message and then he began to pray in thanks for the people God surrounded him with and for the hope God had given him that day.