He is

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is a confidence in what we hope for and an assurance about what we do not see.”

My name is Hurston Waldrep and I’m a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves organization. Through my career of hoping, praying, and wondering, I have come to understand what it means to trust God's faithfulness. This profession has shown me what it means to be faithful to God and trust in all of His promises. We know that He will hold true to these promises even when we can’t see what He has planned for us. Hebrews 11:1 is a great explanation of this blind trust. The walk of faith is not always easy. We can easily misunderstand when we only see what we want to see and do not fully grasp the concept of trusting God. Being faithful to something we can’t see, or touch is a tough concept for the human mind. The day to day of normal life is often full of worrying about our future, especially as we learn who we are, and can be very stressful. This is where we must have faith in our identity in Christ. Knowing that no matter what goes on in our lives we can trust He will be there in every situation. Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” To me, these promises are amazing. As sinners, we know that we can’t do anything to repay Jesus for his sacrifice on that cross for our sins. We don’t deserve the overwhelming love that He gives us on a daily basis. We don't deserve the promises He makes to us. That’s not the point though. The point is that no matter what we do, God is faithful to His promises through thick and thin. We can go to Him at any point of our lives and say, “Lord, I give my worries to you.” and they will be lifted off our shoulders. These things are constant because the Lord cannot and will not change. The love He has for us is constant and all we have to do is believe He is who He says He is. 

Throughout my career, these things have held true even when my faith seemed to be at its lowest. There are times where I can look back and see where God has done his best work in my life.  He has taught me to understand that He will always do what He says. The toughest part of being a Christian is holding true to our faithfulness in darkness. The devil wants us to believe darkness is from God so that we may betray Him. Darkness is where our faith is put to the test. It’s where we want to lose sight of God's promises even though He has told us time and time again that He is still there, even in the darkness. I love being able to see growth in my faith. Being able to understand what God is calling me to do and where He is calling me to go. To be able to say “God, I trust you no matter what you have in store for me.” This gives me the most confidence and allows me to walk with my head up and be assured that whatever I have going on, He will provide for me. Through injury, sickness, health, peaks, valleys, good games, bad games, and even times of peace, I know that God is guiding me. He is always a step ahead preparing me for what is next, even when I can’t see the point He wants to make. We may never see that point, but our job is to just TRUST He will come through in the end. These are the things that I try to make note of when explaining God's love to others. As I thought of the foundation I wanted to accomplish through my supplement and baseball consulting company, Battle Born Athletics, this was it. Being able to help athletes and share my faith is my favorite part about my platform. Being able to help grow people physically and encourage them spiritually is the rock this company will stand on. This company allows me to meet so many people and share my faith in so many ways. Being able to surround myself with like-minded people keeps me in check to make sure I trust who God says He is. Having the desire to follow His word keeps me going and helps me hold true to who I want to be as a person. We may not be able to write our own story, but we can ask God to help us grow into the person we want to be. Sometimes, He may have to correct our ego, but we know that it’s for the best in the end. His faithfulness truly is the only thing we can rely on in this world. No matter what happens, He is there for us. There are many examples from the Bible that show this faithfulness even when the darkness seems endless. The whole of the Bible is an example of God's unending love and faithfulness to His people. 

As a Christian, I aspire to share my faith with others who don’t know what God’s love feels like. I want to be able to show what His love has done for me through my personal life and my baseball career. Being able to go to Him in times of need or just praising Him for answering my prayers. He will test our faith to Him but it’s only to show just how powerful He is. Those tests may not be fun, and we may lose sight of who He is, but we can always ask Him to show us the light at the end of the tunnel. Proverbs 16:33 says “the lot is cast into the lap, but every decision is from the Lord.” We live life, but the Lord writes our story. He will be there for us along the way, and His faithfulness to His promises can always be relied on. We may not always see the plan He has set for us, but our job is to trust His word. Have a strong faith, live by His word, and have the desire to share it with anyone who needs to hear it. Psalm 23:4 says, “though I walk through the valley to the shadow of death I will fear no evil, for the lord, my God, is with me.”

-n0tbyhurston