The Strength To Come Back

    Josh Hamilton was the first player chosen in the first round of the 1999 baseball draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He grew up his whole life playing baseball and had a natural talent for it. His ability enabled him to outplay kids twice his age. He was destined to be one of those rare "high-character" superstars. But in 2001, working his way from the minors to the majors, all of the plans for Josh went off the rails in a moment of weakness. What followed was a nightmare of drugs and alcohol, estrangement from his friends and family, and his eventual suspension from baseball.
    After signing with Tampa Bay, Hamilton spent his first two years in the minor leagues living with his parents, who had quit their jobs to shepherd their son. Just before the 2001 season began, all three were injured in a car accident. While his parents recovered at home in Raleigh, Hamilton recuperated in Florida while staying with the team.
    Alone for the first time, unable to play, he started hanging out in a local tattoo parlor where he developed his first addiction—to ink. Josh soon began too fall to the influence of the parlor employees which soon led him to alcoholism and the use of cocaine.
       At first Hamilton's drug use was occasional, but by summer 2002, he was using during the season and acting out the paranoid life of a junkie. Then came the first of several positive drug tests and suspensions. By 2004 he had been banned from pro ball altogether.   
      Nearly four years later, after crack-and-booze-induced hazes, bouncing between trailer homes where he'd collapse onto the floor with other addicts, and posh rehab centers where he failed time and again, Josh finally began to hit the road to recovery, when he began to pray and read the bible. He read and stumbled across a scripture in James 4:7: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" At that moment, he went cold turkey. It was a frightful few weeks. His mind played tricks on him. The cravings were gargantuan. But he began to gain weight and strength, and his Grandmother, who at the time was providing him housing and support, began talking about a comeback. 
       For Josh, that comeback meant making restitution with his wife Katie, restoring their trust, and restoring meaning to his life. It wouldn't be easy, but he knew what he had to do.  After much counseling together their marriage was saved, and Josh found the way to restore the meaning in his life: Pick up the bat and play ball. 
        He began by spending a long winter and spring at the Winning Inning, a Christ-centered youth baseball academy in Clearwater, Florida, where Hamilton cleaned toilets, mowed lawns, and slept on an air mattress. He had to do his chores, help teach the students, and maintain a good attitude. At first, Josh was withdrawn. He had a hard time trusting others, but through his work ethics and bible study his demeanor began to change, and his time in the batting cages proved he still had the goods.
       By the end of the 2006 season, Josh Hamilton was given a second chance by the Tampa Bay Rays and he played well in fifteen games with their minor league team. He was then traded to Cincinnati where he displayed flashes of greatness but was held back by injuries. Then after being traded once again, Josh found his home in Texas. It was here during the 2008 season that Hamilton hit for an average of .304, knocked 32 home runs, batted in 130 runs, and was chosen to play in the all-star game. 
       The night before he set the record in the annual Home Run Derby where he smashed 28 homers in the first round. Crushing the current records set by sluggers like Bobby Abreu, David Ortiz, David Wright, Jason Giambi, and Mark McGuire, some even soaring over 500 feet. His longest one, and estimated 518 feet. Afterward, as millions watched from home, Hamilton credited God for his recovery, and almost immediately the speaking requests poured in from churches, drug rehab programs, and schools.

     
       Hamilton was named to the American League All Star Team, and made the All-Star team the next two seasons as well. He also won the American League batting title in 2010. Then on October 22, 2010, Hamilton was selected as MVP of the 2010 season, and on November 23, 2010, was named the 2010 American League MVP, earning 22 of 28 first-place votes. He would also carry the Rangers to the world series that year, where they lost to the San Fransisco Giants, but despite missing the taste of a world title, Josh Hamilton continues to amaze baseball fans all over the world.
      If you ask Josh, he'll say it's all part of his "platform" for reaching people who deal with their own or loved ones' addictions, and for reaching people with the good news of the gospel. He says, "I'm amazed God could use somebody as flawed as me."
      Josh Hamilton found his way back, and so can we. Each and every one of us are faced with challenges, whether they be big or small, and each of us encounter our own trials. Although we may not know just quite how others feel in these times, there is always someone who does. Our savior Jesus Christ, who suffered for the sins and afflictions of the world. We may never know in complete detail the pain that he suffered, but we do know that because of that great sacrifice we can all return to live with God again one day. 
       No matter how far off the path we find ourselves, we can always pick ourselves back up and keep moving forward. Sometimes it takes time and most always it takes a lot of courage and strength but its possible if we have faith and pray. Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game, because there's always hope through our Savior Jesus Christ who can give us the strength to come back.