“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” — Hebrews 11:1
What Is Hope?
“I hope we win today.” “I hope I have a good game.” Have you ever thought or made statements such as these before? Of course, we all have! But really, the question we need to ask of ourselves is, what did I mean by making this statement? What is hope?
A Biblical definition of hope would be “to anticipate, usually with pleasure” a desired outcome. It also means to have “a confident expectation of good.” Hope is a necessary component for every athlete to possess if they want to succeed. When competing in any sport, to achieve the highest performance possible, an athlete needs to be able to access the most out of his/her spiritual, mental and physical abilities.
I’ve heard many coaches over the years state, “The mental determines the physical.” They are actually stating a truth from Proverbs 23:7 that says, “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” For the Christ-follower, I like to take it a step further and say, “The spiritual determines the mental which will impact the physical.”
As we walk closely with Jesus, He increases our trust and confidence in His leading in our lives, on and off the field of play, so that we can truly “hope” for an outcome we desire. Do we always get what we want? Nope, but we place ourselves in a position to get the most out of the abilities He has entrusted to us.
— Mickey Weston, Chicago White Sox chaplain
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