In the struggles of life, we also need to develop toughness—but it is not necessarily mental in nature. It is a toughness rooted in a determination to trust in the Lord, no matter what life throws our way. King David put it this way:

The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)

This kind of toughness expresses faith in the face of overwhelming burdens, opposition, or danger. It is the enduring confidence in Christ that cannot be diminished by the circumstances or struggles that invade our lives. It is the devotion of heart that echoes Job’s words, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15). This is the toughness that faces real life in the real world. And it is a toughness born out a relationship that is utterly dependent upon who He is—not what we have done. Enduring trust in the living God is the toughness that faces life with no need for fear.

Bill Crowder, Sports Spectrum Chaplain

Most of us understand the pain and struggle of waiting—waiting through hard times, waiting through painful times, waiting through lonely times, waiting through uncertain times. Waiting is a part of life—and long waits are not necessarily the exception, sometimes they are the rule. However, there is a difference between waiting and waiting when we are learning the lessons of waiting on the Lord. In a very familiar verse, Isaiah wrote:

But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Waiting without hope can drain the life from us—but waiting as a way of resting in the Lord is another matter altogether. Isaiah says that waiting on the Lord provides strength for our weakness, energy for our emptiness, and confidence for our despair because He is so much greater than any circumstance that we might ever face. In the long season of waiting that life often brings our way, we could easily lose heart and hope, but not if, in the waiting, we learn to wait upon the Lord. In Him, we find more than just more long waits—we find strength.

Bill Crowder, Sports Spectrum Chaplain

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This is not limited to sports in particular or to life in general. It is also a reality in our relationship with God. So then, what are some of life’s “spiritual” training grounds? There may be a dozen or more good answers to that question, but for our purposes we will focus on three great places to begin:

• Scriptures—Without a commitment to the Scriptures, we have no basis for the wisdom our hearts need as we face the challenges of life in a fallen world. This may be why the apostle Paul wrote, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).
• Experience—When David, the young shepherd boy, offered to represent the armies of Israel against the enemy Goliath, he was told that he was in over his head. There was no way this youth could compete at that level. But David dipped into his years of experience shepherding his father’s flocks and the challenges he had faced, including his encounters with and conquests over lion and bear (1 Samuel 17:34-36), and he applied the lessons learned to the task at hand. As a result, he won a great victory over the Philistine giant.
• Example—We all need people in our lives we can watch and learn from. Paul understood that need and told the church at Corinth something that, on its face, seems to be fairly bold. He said, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). They were not to imitate him in all things or in just anything, but they were to follow his example as long as he was modeling the example of Christ.

This again is a good starting place for life’s training grounds. As we embrace the wisdom of the Bible, we have a base on which to operate in our walk with Christ. As we grow in life, we will accumulate a backlog of experiences that can inform our living going forward. And having more-experienced mentors to show us the ways of Christ and what they look like in the world is a priceless gift. This is where we can begin to develop in our walk with the Lord. Then the challenge will be to take that walk from the training ground into the arena of life. That is the essence of what makes Christian living so exciting!

Bill Crowder, Sports Spectrum Chaplain

No matter how old we may get, none of us wants to be swept aside or treated as if we no longer have value or can no longer make a contribution. All of us want to feel like we have worth and, to some degree, we fear being pushed into a corner. Even the psalmist worried about this in Psalm 71:9, where we read: “Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength fails.”

Some Bible scholars believe that King David wrote this song as he was being pursued by his  son Absalom. David, whose reign had not always been marked by wisdom or purity, had literally been driven from his throne by young Absalom and a group of conspirators—and his words in Psalm 71:9 speak to his fear of being thrown away. In the midst of the disappointment of being run out of town by his enemies, however, David kept his eyes on God, saying:

O God, You have taught me from my youth, and I still declare Your wondrous deeds. And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to all who are to come (Psalm 71:17-19).

The lessons David learned as a boy stood him in good stead in his later life. And, in the midst of it, he was determined that he would continue to declare the goodness of God to a generation on the rise. No matter our age, or the ages of those around us, it is always appropriate to point hearts to the faithfulness of God and to guide them to His sufficient care. We may get old and feel set aside, but there is no age limit or restriction to the power or grace of our God. Remember, our ageless heavenly Father’s mercies are “new every morning” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Bill Crowder, Sports Spectrum Chaplain

This matters because a significant part of life is dealing with trouble. Job said, “Man is born to trouble, as surely as sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7 NIV), and he was right. Life in a fallen world is filled with trouble, heartache, and loss. The question is, how do we prepare for that trouble so that, when it visits us, we are ready to respond appropriately?

Let me suggest three factors that can contribute to our own readiness.

• First, realize that we cannot bear the load of all the troubles of life today. We can only handle today’s troubles today. To that end, Jesus reminded us, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34). Focus on what is in front of you, rather than worrying over what tomorrow may or may not bring.
• Second, remember that in the struggles we face today we need help. For that reason, we continually go to our Father in times of need. Paul wrote, “Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful” (Romans 12:12).
• Third, don’t ever forget that God’s love for His child is not diminished by the troubles of life. As Paul said, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death? . . . No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us” (8:35,37).

We cannot prevent troubles from coming our way—they’re part of life in a broken world. We can, however, prepare for them by recognizing our dependence upon Christ and confidently trusting in Him and His love. His grace really is sufficient.

Bill Crowder, Sports Spectrum Chaplain

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Sports Spectrum Radio
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So, how should we view criticism? When the religious leaders attacked a woman for showing kindness to Jesus, He looked at the situation through very different eyes and by very different standards. Notice Mark’s telling of the story:

But there were some who were indignant among themselves, and said, “Why was this fragrant oil wasted? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they criticized her sharply. But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for Me. For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. She has done what she could. She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her” (Mark 14:4-5).

While others criticized her actions, Jesus applauded her. Why? Because Christ saw the heart and motive behind the deed. We see things both imperfectly and incompletely, which should caution us against being too quick to criticize others. As 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds us, “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Since we can’t fully and accurately understand what is in someone’s heart, we should pause and take a deep breath before we enter into the blame game, heaping criticism upon others. Who knows—maybe sometime down the road we might want someone to give us the benefit of the doubt as well.

Bill Crowder, Sports Spectrum Chaplain