Perseverance

READ: James 1:2-4
THINK: How do you normally react to difficulty?
PRAY: For you and your teammates, for how we will battle through difficulty, fear and failure.

Last night, we studied about being a team of knowledge and self-control. Being a team that learns and then has the discipline to put our knowledge into practice. As we begin to do what we know is right, we will face difficulty.

Difficulty may come in many ways. One way I’ve seen in the past is DEFIANCE. A prominent member of the team decides that what is important to everyone else, the things that every one else is doing; it's not important to them and they will let everyone know about it. This might be taking practice seriously and working hard to get better. This might be the devotional nature of team camp. It might be my serious commitment to helping us engage the Christian life in a real way. It might be the support of others that they don't want to participate in. This causes a difficulty for the team.

In one of my seasons, we had a prominent member of the team, a senior, decide that working hard in practice was over-rated. They had been successful in the past, didn't need to show up on time for practice, didn't need to actually commit to focusing during drills. At the same time, there were juniors and sophomores who were committed to getting better. This tension was felt throughout the whole season. Could the underclassmen persevere, and stay committed to what they knew was important in the face of defiance?

Another form of difficulty is LOSS. Too many times, we abandon our maturity so that we can win now. We cheat on a line call to win and important point. We stop hitting our second serve the right way because we want to win an early August challenge match. We disregard our self-control and good decision making because we want to do something "fun" with our friends right now. We get caught up in the immediacy of winning, and even more to the point, the fear of losing.

At it's core, perseverance is saying no to fear. Not changing or panicking because we are afraid to lose, afraid of someone who is defying us. Perseverance is a courageous step. It is an ongoing response of faith. Staying committed to the right course of action, even though it appears that you might lose something at the time.

Stay committed to hitting shots with the right form, even though it will cost you some offseason matches. Stay committed to living in love, even though it might require you to make some sacrifices, might even allow you to be taken advantage of. Stay committed to the good of others, even though it might require more of your time and more of your focus.

This spring, I met with your juniors and seniors and simply asked the question, what type of team do we want to be? Their answer was a team that battles. To battle is to persevere. We need this quality of maturity, this season and throughout whatever life brings at us.

We will be a team who stays committed, if for no other reason than we will be a team that refuses to be motivated by fear. Let us choose what is right, let us forge that path, and let us persevere. Let’s battle.