Before Marvel Comic’s Iron Man was such a hit on the big screen there was another Iron Man. His name is Cal Ripken Jr.
Ripken played 21 seasons for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001) where he amassed 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, and 1,695 runs batted in during his career. He earned two Gold Glove Awards, was a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American League MVP.
I’ll tell you how he did it — but first, let me tell you how he didn’t do it. He didn’t rely on a hot streak. Sure, a lot of sports records are set when a player gets on a hot streak. When she or he has a good game or a good month or even a good season, records tend to fall. But hot streaks come and go. Ripken didn’t depend on hot streaks, neither did he rely on short cuts.
He had a special room built at his home where he would practice throw after throw at a piece of tape on the wall that represented the first baseman’s glove. Every day in the off season, Ripken would work out, throw, work out, throw, work out, throw ...
Something many people don’t know about Ripken is that during his first year as a pro, while playing minor league ball in West Virginia, he made his mark in a different way: he committed a league-leading 33 errors at short-stop. Not a good start. And since his dad was already well-known in baseball, many analysts said he was just an over-rated kid, not good enough for life in the big leagues. But, he didn’t quit.
So what was his secret? Cal Ripken Jr., the Iron Man, just kept taking one step at a time in the right direction. He didn’t rocket to stardom — it was a journey of one right step after another. Ripken kept taking one more step in the right direction, one game at a time.
Later in his career, he went 95 consecutive games without making an error, and committed only three in an entire season — another record he holds. Ripken’s habit of taking one more step led him through his own “worst to first” journey.
It’s a journey you can take, too. God wants to pour out his grace in your life. He wants to change you through and through. Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples and the “bold, brash” and sometimes, “arrogant” one, wrote this:
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. (1 Peter 5:6, NLT)
God simply wants us to admit that we can’t do it on your own. And when we do that, when we humble ourselves and lean on Him, He will — at the right time — raise us up. So just keep taking the next right step and see where God will take you!