by Steve May

 Most people are familiar with the convoluted sayings of baseball

hall-of-famer Yogi Berra. Berra was the catcher, and later the

manager, of the legendary New York Yankees. (A collection of his best

sayings appeared in the Spring issue of Sermon Notes.) Some of the

misstatements attributed to Yogi include...

A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore.

It gets late early this time of year.

If you come to a fork in the road, take it.

I usually take a two hour nap, from one o'clock to four.

If you can't imitate him, don't copy him.

If I didn't wake up, I'd still be sleeping.

It ain't over till it's over.

 My favorite Yogi-ism occurred when a reporter asked him what he was

going to do about the fact that he was in the middle of a batting

slump. Yogi looked at the reporter with surprise and said, "Slump? I

ain't in no slump. I just ain't hitting."

 There is undeniable wisdom in his perspective. It's the difference

between seeing your problems as a temporary situation or a permanent

condition. "Not hitting" is a game-to-game struggle; a "slump" lasts

indefinitely.

The bible teaches that believers can strike the word "slump" and its

equivalents from their vocabulary. We may face challenges,

setbacks--even outright persecution--but we have God's guarantee that

it will not last. His words to Jeremiah apply to us today: