How to Bounce Back

If you are a Colts fan, you probably still have a bit of a bitter taste in your mouth this morning after the game last night. I have pretty much decided to watch anything but sports TV this week because I don't want to see a single highlight of the game. A bit extreme? Perhaps.

Toward the end of the day yesterday, I began thinking about how the Colts could respond to this loss next year. We still have a good team, and other teams like the Pats and Chargers are unlikely to get any better, and could actually get worse as their players continue to age. Basically, I was wondering how our team could bounce back.

That got me to wondering about how people can respond to life's most pressing challenges. Football, of course, is fairly unimportant compared to difficult situations and tragic circumstances that we all go through at different points in our lives....so how can we bounce back from the truly disappointing times?

Jeremiah was a prophet in the Bible who went through some difficult times. You can read the book named after him to get his story, and he is also credited with writing the book of Lamentations. He was a prophet during the time when Israel was invaded and destroyed by a foreign army; he saw his beloved city, Jerusalem, completely destroyed and he himself was carted away into exile in a foreign land. This was humiliating for the people of Israel, and Jeremiah spends the book of Lamentations complaining and weeping about the tragedy he had seen.

How did he ultimately respond? It is fascinating to hear his words in Lam. 3:22-23

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Did you catch that? Read the book of Lamentations to that point and you will see Jeremiah's point of view and hear the extent of his sorrow. Despite all of that, he still responds to God with praise and TRUST. He affirms the goodness and love of God, saying they are new every morning. Our God is a God of great faithfulness, and he is faithful to us even when no one is faithful to Him.

When we go through difficult situations, we know we can still trust God because he is full of love and compassion. If you choose to respond to tragedy or adversity in this way, you will be greatly benefited by it. So don't worry about the Colts, they will be fine! And if you are like me, remember, only about five weeks until spring training!