I N J U R Y

I Peter 4:1

Who has more confidence about recovery from injury, the one who’s never been hurt or the player who has come through the pain and has found renewed strength?  If the answer seems obvious, you may have never been injured.  Suffering is tough, even after recovery.

Peter makes mention of suffering and its results in his first letter at chapter 4 and verse 1, “Therefore since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin…”  He’s not saying that after we’ve suffered that we’re somehow exempt from making moral mistakes, rather suffering changes our mindset and leads us to live for more than physical gratification.

Before we’ve suffered any significant injury, many of us play a little tentatively in dangerous situations.  There is a latent fear that if we risk a possible injury, we can never recover or play the same again.

However, in the player who has suffered and recovered, that indecision and fear is overcome by the assurance that even if this daring play leads to pain, he can come through it to compete even more strongly.

As you compete today, play with strength, courage and daring.  Don’t be intimidated by the potential injury that you may imagine could wreck your playing career.  Those of you who have come through injury, who have suffered in the flesh, loan some courage to your teammates and play with great passion.

Bible Reading Plan:
John 4:1-14
James 5:7-12
Ecclesiastes 8