Adhesiveness in Adversity

Without a doubt, one of the greatest lessons I have learned from athletics is that if you “stick with it,” good things can happen. I was once in a junior golf tournament with only three golfers in my division, with trophies awarded to the top two finishers. The second-place trophy was more beautiful than the first, so I secretly wanted it. I shot poorly on the first day of the two-day tournament. My two competitors were neck-and-neck, but I was a distant third. Though tempted to withdraw, I was not raised to be a quitter. When we came to the tournament’s next-to-last hole, I was still so far behind that I seemed a mere spectator. The hole was a relatively short par three over a lake. One of my competitors hit every single ball he had into the lake. I felt so badly for him that I offered him one of my balls, but he angrily refused, stomping off the course. All I had to do was “finish the race,” and I would win the coveted second-place trophy.

God will not give up on us. He says, “I will make with them an everlasting covenant: I will never turn away from doing good to them” (Jr 32:40) and “They will be My people, and I will be their faithful and righteous God” (Zch 8:8b). Part of demonstrating God’s glory is that we, through the power of His Spirit, exhibit a similar type of “holy adhesiveness”. The fuel is a dogged hope that steadily continues, even in the face of adversity.