Banding Together

In my four years of college basketball, one particular weekend stood out to me more than any other. My teammates and I traveled down to Cookson Hills, OK, in the school’s two vans and loaded our luggage into the house where we would be staying. When we got there, however, we realized that the family we would be staying with had been stricken with the flu. We had no choice but to stay there, as other families already had teams they were housing.

The tournament in which we were playing was a three-game tournament: Thursday through Saturday. And by the second game, everyone on the team had caught the nasty flu bug. We had won our first game handily, but the second game proved to be a bit of a challenge considering everyone was up the night before using the bathroom in shifts. Not willing to forfeit any games, we somehow pulled out a victory in our second game. By the third game, however, we found ourselves reeling and down by 15 in the middle of the second half. Coach, in his hooded sweatshirt, called a timeout. Struggling for words and short for breath, he said, “Guys, I know you’re sick. I’m sick, too. Just go out there, do the best you can and play together as a team.”

There were times during that game when nothing went right. The other team was knocking down shots; we were slow on our feet. Bottom line: We were just plain hurting. Despite everything, we were able to weather the struggle together as a unit and pull out the victory, finishing the tournament with a 3-0 record.

As Christians we don’t walk this journey of faith alone. We can’t. In Mark 4:35-41 we see the disciples together in a boat and Jesus calming the storm. We, as believers, are in this journey of life together. We’re in the same boat. In this journey, there will be storms, and when these storms come—and they will—we must weather them together with God as our Captain. If we choose to weather them by ourselves the storms will overtake us, and we will not be able to survive. We need to connect with each other, because we need each other in these life situations. We need encouragement; we need that fellowship with one another that exemplifies Christ’s love.

Just as a team rises up and overcomes adversity, so to will followers of Christ when we band together in love for God, each other and others. We are all in the same boat: It’s time to weather the storms.