Show of hands, how many of you have been to a Major League Baseball game and actually caught a foul ball during the game?

According to baseball statistical estimates like those reported by FanGraphs, the odds of catching a foul ball in a Major League game are about 1 in 1,000. Now, think about that. A thousand people in the stands and one lucky hand ends up with a souvenir.

But being in the right place at the right time, it can happen. And it did. On April 11, 2016, a Detroit Tigers season ticket holder named Bill Duggan was sitting at Comerica Park watching the Tigers play the Pirates.

A lifelong baseball fan, he had been to countless games and never caught a foul ball. But that day, everything changed.

He didn’t just catch one, not two, not three, not four.

That’s right — he caught five foul balls in a single game! And then gave them all away to children sitting nearby. That’s what he said afterward: “Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.”

Being in the right place at the right time feels like it takes a lot of luck, doesn’t it?

Sometimes that’s how we view life, as though the good breaks belong to the lucky few. And the rest of us, we just hope that something falls our way.

But Scripture tells us something different. Being in the right place at the right time isn’t determined by your luck quotient. It’s guided by the Lord’s direction.

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” (Psalm 37:23)

In baseball, catching a foul ball might seem random, but in the kingdom, nothing about your life is random.

God’s kingdom is big, and the crowd of faithful witnesses around you is vast. Add to that the billions of people alive right now, and the odds of being seen might feel impossible.

And yet God sees you. He sees your situation. He saw your sin. He saw your need, and He sent His Son for you. The gift of eternal life is not earned or stumbled upon. It’s caught by grace, by His purpose, by His choosing through faith in Christ Jesus.

He called you out of the thousands — not by chance, but through the waters of Holy Baptism, where His Word and Spirit named you His own.

It wasn’t luck.
It was love.
It was grace.
It was preordained.

So the next time you feel lost in the crowd, remember you’re not there by accident. God placed you.

Right place, right time.

Prayer
Lord, thank You for directing my steps even when I can’t see the pattern. When life feels random, remind me I am chosen. Help me trust that where You place me today is no accident. It’s assignment. Let my life bear fruit that points others to You. Amen.

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