It’s easy to make our way through the winning seasons; however, the struggles we face during losing seasons are what we tend to remember most. Most of us have experienced seasons where we’ve tried every plan we can think of, yet the team still struggles. It was during a season like this that Christ’s “good part” was revealed to me. The season began with one of our leading scorers breaking his foot. The problems mounted throughout the season, and the players and coaching staff began to buckle under the pressure. Arguments began and I started to worry about the team’s demise.

At that point I turned to an intense study of God’s Word and came across the story of Martha and Mary hosting Jesus in their home. When I discovered how Christ gently rebuked Martha about her anxious focus on insignificant things rather than on Christ, our season began to change.

The Holy Spirit placed on my heart others who were experiencing struggles of much greater magnitude than team success. Our leading scorer, who was injured, sat in emotional turmoil as he watched his teammates struggle on the court. Meanwhile, one of our most faithful fans, a student with muscular dystrophy, sat on the sidelines thankful for his ability simply to watch the game. As these two burdened my heart, I couldn’t help but think that my worries, like Martha’s, were minor by comparison. Although our win column did not improve much, once our team’s focus was on Christ’s “good part,” our season was purposeful because it brought glory to God.