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Hope in Hopelessness

READY:

“Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end.” – Lamentations 3:21-22

SET:

In the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Simone Biles shocked fans around the world when she withdrew from five event finals. However, she did return for the balance beam and earned bronze, her 32nd medal. She then disappeared from competitive gymnastics. Why? Why did one of the greatest gymnasts withdraw and disappear? Her mental health was dangerously low, affecting her mindset and her safety. With a few years of help and healing, Biles has returned with a fresh spirit.

Jeremiah once had a pretty rough path of life. Lamentations 3 reads almost like his diary. He wrote in detail about his pain, sorrow, agony, and overall sadness. When we read, “I have been deprived of peace,” “My future is lost,” or “I am a laughing stock to all my people,” (Jeremiah 3:14, 17, 18), it is safe to say Jeremiah was having a mental battle. And just as Biles sought help and healing to return with a fresh spirit, so did Jeremiah.

Just a few verses down from his sorrowful statements, we read, “I continually remember them and have become depressed. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s faithful love, we do not perish, for his mercies never end.” (Lamentations 3:19-22). Even with Jeremiah’s mind full of sorrow, he dared to find hope. Where did he find his hope, healing, and restoration? In God. He continues writing about finding hope and healing through God’s mercy.

As student-athletes, we face a mental game ourselves. We have a battlefield in our minds, and there is a constant war. Jeremiah shows us that God wants to hear our pain and cares about our pain. He wants us to go to Him in prayer and cry out all we are feeling.

Jeremiah also shows us another step in the healing process: calling to mind all God has done for us and finding hope.

When mental battles come our way on the field and off, we need to cry out to God but then bring to mind His mercy and faithfulness. We need to switch our minds from sorrow to our Savior.

GO:

1. What is something you are struggling with mentally right now?
2. How is it affecting your sport? Your team? Friendships?
3. How can you replace that thought with a promise from God?

WORKOUT:

Lamentations 3

Psalm 136, 143:4-8

OVERTIME:

“God, You know my thoughts and mind better than I do. You know what I am dealing with right now. Help me find healing and hope in Your mercy and Your goodness. Shift my mindset to Kingdom things, not worldly things. Amen.”