The Spiritual Athlete: Overcoming Failure (Guest Writer – Steve Davis)
June 13, 2011
Dear Friends,
Pop Herring was the varsity basketball coach at Laney High School in 1978 when a skinny, 5’9″ sophomore tried out for his team. The boy was cut. Years later he became one of the very best basketball players in history. His name? Michael Jordan, of course. After three days of tryouts, Pop Herring posted the roster in the locker room and didn’t think any more of it. But Jordan did. “It was embarrassing, not making that team,” he said in 1991. “They posted the roster and it was there for a long, long time without my name on it.” One of the traits seen in all great athletes is their ability to overcome adversity and failure. Bouncing back from injury, handling the disappointment of a loss, letting a slow-rolling ground ball go through your legs in the World Series – how players and teams respond to these scenarios will ultimately determine their success.
After a particularly lopsided loss in the NBA finals (to Jordan’s Chicago Bulls), a reporter asked Danny Ainge, who was a player on the losing team, if the blow-out would have an effect on the next game. Ainge said, “This isn’t the Tour de France. We don’t start Game 2 down 33 points.” You see, the winner of the Tour is the rider with the lowest cumulative time (after 21 days of racing 2000 miles). That means that just one bad day can ruin an athlete’s chance of winning the whole thing. For Ainge, he was motivated by the idea that the next game would begin with a clean slate.
As Spiritual Athletes, we must learn how to bounce back from failure because we sometimes sin and fall short of the glory of God. When we inevitably sin, let us not become paralyzed with despondency or self-contempt. Instead, let us resolve to use God’s promise of forgiveness as a springboard to renewed action and faithfulness.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.(1 John 1:9)
To be purified from all unrighteousness is a wonderful thought. It means that we should never feel that our sins continue to add up to the point where they are too great, or too many for God’s forgiveness. The prophet Jeremiah tells us about our Father’s faithfulness.
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.(Lam 3:22-23)
In sports, it is not uncommon to see a team that is far behind “give up”. Usually the commentators will remark that the players quit on their coach. Sometimes the players will admit that “they didn’t come to play” or that the other team “took the life out of us”. But as Spiritual Athletes, we don’t have to worry about falling too far behind! With the blessing of forgiveness, we can wake up each morning with a clean slate. My dad used to wake me up as a kid with the words, “This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Knowing that God’s mercies are new every morning gives us all the more reason to rejoice.
When considering God’s mercies, the prophet Micah asks with wonder,
Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7: 18-19)
Our Heavenly Father’s love and compassion is so great that his forgiveness is likened to covering our sins under the deepest waters of the ocean, never to be seen again. Think about that and ask yourself this question – Am I willing to let my past sins lie there, or do I have the tendency to go dredging the ocean floor in an effort to bring the sins back into mind? How often do we continually beat ourselves up over mistakes that God has forgiven long ago?
In sports, the best athletes are the ones who can move past their mistakes and look forward to performing well in the next game. As Spiritual Athletes we should do the same. Here’s how the Apostle Paul encouraged the Philippians.
One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.(Phil 3:12-14)
Have a great week,
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