“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” — Romans 5:3-5
The more I grow into adulthood, the more I appreciate having played sports during my youth and adolescence. The lessons you learn through athletics about competition, teamwork, sportsmanship and work ethic are endless, and pay dividends into adulthood.
With age has also come a new perspective that has allowed me to see certain Biblical principles present in sports that I didn’t notice as a younger athlete. Through sports, you learn to be accountable, coachable and responsible. But you also learn perseverance and how to handle adversity.
We are promised in John 16:33 that we will face trouble and adversity during our lives on this side of Heaven. But through that verse and His message to His followers, Jesus commands us to remember that He has overcome the world. Whatever adversity or trials we face on earth pale in comparison to the glory we will experience with Him in Heaven.
But in our human flesh, knowing that truth doesn’t always equate to feeling it. In his book “Perfectly Suited,” author and pastor J.D. Peabody sums up that verse in John like this:
“That quote from Jesus still catches me off guard. I don’t want to accept what he’s saying. A stubborn idealism in my head wants to hang on to the notion that when lived properly, the Christian walk will safeguard me from life’s most dire predicaments. If I’m doing things right, instinct tells me the hardships should decrease, not increase.”
If you’re anything like me, I tend to fall into that same camp quite often. It’s easy to think that the more aligned we are with God’s will, the easier life would get. But know that’s not how life goes with us sinful creatures.
That truth about facing trials spans every aspect of life, including sports. Yes, even Christian athletes face plenty of adversity, including injuries, being cut from a team or losing games. Jesus tells us we will face our own versions of all of these things. Aside from the pure entertainment aspect, one reason I gravitate toward sports is to draw inspiration from athletes who face adversity and respond well from it.
Take New York Yankees closer Luke Weaver, for example. Two seasons ago, he was struggling to stay on the mound due to poor performance and injuries. Things had gotten so low that he was contemplating retiring from the game before reaching the age of 30.
Instead, he committed himself to getting healthy and embraced his new situations as he went from team to team, eventually ending up with the Yankees. Though he’d spent the majority of his career to that point as a starter, the Yankees wanted to use him as a long reliever. Eventually, he became the team’s closer and was a big reason the Yankees made it to the 2024 World Series.
He leaned on his faith to persevere through that difficult period of his career. There are countless examples of athletes who, like Weaver, persevered through adversity to come back stronger and, in some cases, more successful than they were before the trial.
We are not guaranteed any level of success by the world’s standards or any particular result on the other side of our adversity, but we are promised in Romans 5:3-5 that our suffering will produce perseverance, and our perseverance will produce character, and our character will produce hope. “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (v. 5).
Our character is formed to be like Christ when we persevere through our trials. When we learn to trust and rely on God when things don’t go our way or according to our timeline, we start to build a heart of contentment for what God’s will is for our life.
Whether or not we end up having professional success like Weaver, we can rest in the confidence that God is using our struggle to do the important work of refining our heart and character and making us more like Him.
— Cole Claybourn
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