Thank God It's Friday: Thank God for winning when you don't deserve to be in the game

Thank God for winning when you don't deserve to be in the game????  OK, you're wondering, what the heck is he talking about today?  Last night the Nationals won the completion of a game that had been suspended back in May.  The winning pitcher, Joel Hanrahan, was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates a week ago.  The runner who had been on first when the game was suspended, Elijah Dukes, was demoted to the minor leagues a week ago.  The Nationals had effectively given up on both players.  They weren't cutting it as part of the worst team in baseball!  (Yes, they're still the team I root for.  I rooted for the '88 Orioles and lived to tell about it!)  They were no longer part of the plan.  Yet, both players contributed to the win, even though neither was with the team at the completion of the game last night.

 

As an aside, I have been pondering, what would have happened if the game had been suspended prior to the Nationals taking the field in the bottom of the inning (in other words no runner on first) and Joel Hanrahan had been traded to the Astros (instead of Pirates) and the Astros sent him to the mound in the completion of the bottom of the inning and the Nationals had still won the game.  Would Hanrahan have both picked up a win (having been the pitcher of record when the game was suspended) and a loss (having given up the winning run)?  I suppose he might not have been allowed to enter the game since he had already been in the game with the Nats, but still I wonder.  [These are the kind of things that run through my mind when I'm waiting for a program to finish running that crashed overnight due to insufficient disk space at the time.]

 

Anyway, back to winning without deserving to be in the game.  Based on the way I live my life - I fail to do the good I should do as well as do things I shouldn't do - it's no use in trading me, I should be sent to the minors!  My righteousness is like filthy rags.  Heck, when it comes down to it, I'm a washed up never-was low-class-A minor leaguer who probably only made it out of Rookie league because management got tired of me there!  Yet, when my life is over and I stand before the throne, the Accuser will say "He's a washed up never was!  Send him down!"  But Jesus will say "I died for Him, He's mine!"  And I'll spend the rest of eternity rejoicing in the Victory though I didn't deserve to be in the game!