“‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

Tampa Bay Rays star Ben Zobrist was on the world stage recently when he played for the United States in the World Baseball Classic in March.

But Zobrist was on an even bigger stage in 2008, when the Rays faced the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. Zobrist saw it as an opportunity where he could give God the glory if the Rays could win. When his team lost, though, he was baffled—but only for a short time.

“Sometimes you think, ‘Why didn’t we win?’ because I know we would have had some guys on our team that would have given God the credit,” he told Sports Spectrum. “But then you hear (Philadelphia Phillies ace reliever) Brad Lidge on his testimony after the game … and you go, ‘OK. I get it, I get it. You have people everywhere, so you’re going to be glorified regardless, and you want to use this now as a learning experience for all of us who have lost, too.’”

It’s a great reminder that God knows way more than we do—even though we may think we know how things should work or how good things would be if only this or that could happen.

It’s also comforting, because the only One who can see the future and everything that it holds is God. We are limited, but God isn’t. Dwell on that and be comforted that God knows best and loves us too much to let us take control, or too much control, of things.

By Brett Honeycutt

Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor at Sports Spectrum magazine. This devotional is taken from our most recent Training Table, a compilation of sports-related devotionals included in each print magazine. Log in here to access our most recent Training Table.