“All I know most surely about morality and obligation I owe to football”,
Hope and more
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13I love the blessings of the New Testament. Don’t you? This one is a classic hope, joy, peace, trust, power: What more do you want?
As sportspeople we know what a rollercoaster it is to live in a performance-driven world, where you are literally categorized by your performance. You are an Olympian, a sub 11 second/50 second/4 minutes etc runner. You are division 1, division 2 etc. In sport you cannot get away from the performance mentality. The problem is that each achievement just adds to the pressure. Once you break the barrier, you are expected to be under XX seconds in every race.
We are promised “joy” which does not depend on our performance. Former international cricketer, Peter Pollock said: ‘The need to succeed to be happy is a one-way ticket to depression’ That is why we should value God’s joy and peace which can be ours where we perform well or badly.
The source of this joy and peace is “The God of hope”. Those little qualifications that Bible writers add to the name of God give us different insights into his character. The name, “God of hope”, reminds us that God has good things and a future for us.
There is a condition – we have to trust him. But how can we fail to trust a God who loves us completely and has so much to offer us.
Believing all that, go and serve him today in your world of sport.