Over the past few weeks I have continued to see reminders of how difficult people’s lives can be. Not stuff that’s happened to me directly, but a laundry list of tragedy. Young people lose their lives, relationships and marriages fall off the tracks, and the list goes on. At best all of it is discouraging sometimes. For those who are mostly directly impacted, it’s beyond life changing.
For all of us, particularly those who are looked to for guidance and leadership, how we handle the most adverse of circumstances can go a long way toward shaping the attitudes of those we lead. And when attitudes are shaped well, lives are positively impacted for many years. When we can demonstrate courage and faith, a legacy of faith and hope has a chance to develop. 12 years ago, I had a chance to experience this first hand, when as a first-year Coach, one of our athletes passed away in mid-season. With a team to lead, full of young men looking to their Coaches, myself among them, I was able to take my cues and draw strength from my more experienced mentors. In an insanely difficult time, I learned invaluable lessons about our need for people to lean on. Galatians 6:2 instructs us to “Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ”, and it’s one of many passages with a similar message. Life is often very hard – too hard for us to go it alone.
Maybe you’re in a place like this now. Maybe life is beating the stuffing out of you, and you want to make it stop. Maybe you’ve lost hope, at least temporarily. Please know that although life can be brutally tough, there is always hope. Jesus has promised that He will never leave us, that He is with us always. And He has blessed us with people who care and love us. People who are put in place to help carry us through the worst that life has to offer. Are we willing to believe it?
Remember when we used to talk
About busting out – we’d break their hearts
Together – forever
– Bon Jovi (1987)