Week 3 Devotional | Adversity

ADVERSITY

Nobody likes to lose.
Adversity is when you go through something hard, difficult, to challenging. Adversity can be hard to deal with.
Growth happens when we are uncomfortable, but being uncomfortable is ... uncomfortable.

Sports are filled with storms. Life is filled with storms. Things don't always go the way that we want them to. Sometimes things are great - we are making all of our shots, we are rolling defensively, and every decision we make is the right decision. But sometimes we find ourselves in the middle of a storm where we can't buy a basket, we can't stop anybody, and every decision seems like the wrong decision.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

When the storms hit and when hardships do come our way, how do we respond?

God once sent a storm on the Sea of Galilea to teach Jesus' disciples a lesson on faith. After a long day of preaching by the sea, Jesus told His men in Mark 4:35, "Let us cross over to the other side." In the middle of their journey, a terrible windstorm threatened the boat, and they all panicked. The disciples were terrified and asked Jesus, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

The Sea of Gailea was a place where big storms were known to hit at a moment's notice, and they were going through this storm in the dark of the night. While the disciples were panicking and terrified about what was happening, Jesus was sleeping through the storm. They woke Him up and accused Him of not caring about them. Jesus rose, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" He turned to His disciples and said, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?"

It is hard being in the middle of a storm. It's hard going through adversity. Life can be hard. Jesus told us in John 16:33 that we will have trouble in this. But He also told us not to worry because He has already overcome the world.

We can have peace through the storm. We can deal with adversity. We just have to have a plan.

The Plan
1 - Know that God has a plan for you and for your life. No matter what you are going through, God wants to help you through it. Read Jeremiah 29:11 and John 10:10. God wants us to live a great life!

Write out those two verses and use them when you need to hear something positive.

2 - Know that you can't be stressed and positive at the same time. Think about, write down, and talk about a time where you went through something really tough. You made it through that. You can make it through anything!

3 - Write down three things that you are excited about this week. Again, you can't be stressed and positive at the same time. Train your mind to think good thoughts. Find the good in all things.

4 - Write down two sentences that you can tell yourself in the middle of a storm. Team USA Volleyball has a list of positive affirmations that you can build from here.

This week, look for ways to turn challenges into opportunities. One last thing that I want to leave you with is a memory from Kobe Bryant. Kobe once shared the picture below on his Instagram. With grit, toughness, a plan, and faith we can always bounce back from anything.

You can access a Google Doc version of this here.