Chosen for More Than the Game

When Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, sat across from Jackie Robinson in August 1945, he didn't ask about batting averages. He asked if Robinson had the courage not to fight back. Rickey knew that breaking baseball's color barrier would require more than athletic talent. It would demand a man who understood his purpose was bigger than any single game.

On April 15, 1947, Robinson stepped onto Ebbets Field and into history. Pitchers threw at his head. Fans screamed slurs. Some of his own teammates refused to sit beside him. Yet Robinson endured it all — not because he lacked the fire to respond, but because he carried something heavier than anger. He carried purpose.

Years later, Robinson reflected, "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."

Paul wrote to the Ephesians that we are "God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do" (Ephesians 2:10). Like Robinson, we are chosen not for comfort but for calling. The Almighty doesn't place us where life is easy — He places us where our purpose matters most.

You may be in a season that feels hostile, unfair, even cruel. But if God put you there, it is not an accident. You were chosen for more than the game.