From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
I attended my youngest son’s first baseball game of the season a few weeks back.
Admittedly, the coach knows that this year will be a challenging one for these young boys as the teams they will be facing are bigger and more experienced than our gang.
The results of this first foray into the schedule was not pretty.
They lost 15-0, the game halted after 5 innings due to the mercy rule.
As bad as this score may sound, I sensed no discouragement on the part of the coaches or other parents present that night.
Right up until the last out was made coaches were shouting out encouragement and parents were cheering their sons on from their lawn chairs.
The late Grantland Rice is credited with coining the phrase, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”
Try telling that to a bunch of boys walking off the field after being mercied 15-0.
I am guessing that there needs to be a bit of sensitivity to timing, but there is still something to be gained from losing.
You know why?
It builds character.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says that character is “the complex of mental and ethical traits marking and often individualizing a person, group, or nation.”
Adversity and disappointment, I have found, are two key ingredients contributing to the establishment of strong character.
It has often been said that we want character, we just don’t like the path that gets us there.
However, when we see life’s disappointments and discomforts as tools helping the shape our character, it will help to grind through the tough parts of our experience until we come out better for it on the other end.
David had to flee for his life from the jealous King Saul, even though he was innocent, but he eventually became Israel’s most-loved king, far surpassing the man who caused him so much grief.
You may experience some things this week that will be uncomfortable or disappointing, but maybe, just maybe, these are building blocks to that great edifice of character that God is raising in you.
