Are you in the middle of a painful hardship? Don’t lose hope, for there is joy and purpose in striving toward your calling as a child of God.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a lesson from Ken.
My husband coached high school football for many years, and I would often hear him talk about kids who were really, really good on the field, and those who were not. And he wasn’t talking about how good a kid could run a play, or throw a pass, or block a tight end. Ken did not judge his kids by their athleticism. No, to him, the good athletes were the ones who, in the face of overwhelming odds, would still keep playing hard. They would keep striving, keep pushing themselves. These were the football players who stayed hopeful. But there were other kids who just, well, they just did not play with hope. Ken points to one particular game when his team was way down in the fourth quarter. To anybody sitting in the stands – if there were anybody – it looked as though the game were over. And sure enough, some of Coach Tada’s football players gave up. Halfway through the fourth quarter, they ambled onto the field with no energy, no drive, and certainly no hope. They had already given up. These were the football players who refused to keep striving when they realized that they probably would not win. These kids thought, “Hey, if I can’t be number one, if I can’t be the best, if I can’t win, it’s not worth trying at all.”
Man, that kind of attitude corrodes good character. It destroys your soul. Plus, it demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of the things that truly matter on this side of heaven. Ecclesiastes 9:4 puts it this way, it says, “Where there is life there is hope, for a living dog is better than a dead lion.” Now, I heard my pastor, Bob Bjerkaas, preach on this verse, and he explained that in ancient Israel, the lion was considered noble, while the dog was filthy and unclean. But it would be preferable to be a living dog who has hope than to be done with it all as a lion. And so, Ecclesiastes 9 is calling us to be people of hope. Oh, friend, where there is life there is hope. Life and hope go together. You are still on the football field; the game is still on; it is not over; so get back out there and show a little life; show some hope. It’s far, far better to live like that, because the alternative is, as I said, defeat, destruction, and dead lions. Ecclesiastes 9 calls us to keep striving. This whole thing is echoed in Proverbs 18:14 where it says that “Your will to live can sustain you when you are sick, but if you lose it, your last hope is gone.” Oh friend, don’t lose your hope.
So whoever you are, even if you are barely hanging onto your marriage or career; even if your family feels like it’s dissolving, or your health is going south; even when your church, with all its problems, looks like it’s on the verge of a split, do not lose hope! Never quit. Be proactive. Keep striving. You are alive and your call is to remain hopeful and keep making the effort. We are called to daily do our best, working and competing as if for the Lord Jesus himself, as it says in Philippians 3. For there is joy and purpose enough in striving toward that high calling. So, keep striving. And just know that I love sharing this sort of hope with you every single day, so please join me next time, right here for more inspiration and even more hope. And by the way, if you’d like to share this program on your Facebook page, just click the share button at joniradio.org. Spread the word and the hope. This is Joni Eareckson Tada, and I’ll see you next time because I love sharing hope.
© Joni and Friends