Overcoming Adversity

Imperfect__An_Improbable_Life_-_Kindle_edition_by_Jim_Abbott__Tim_Brown__Politics___Social_Sciences_Kindle_eBooks___Amazon_com__jpg_1_429×854_pixelsWhat are the chances of someone playing successfully in Major League Baseball–with only one hand? Jim Abbott won the Big Ten Player of the Year at the University of Michigan in 1988.  He also won an unofficial Gold medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympics with the US Men’s Baseball Team. In 1989, he signing with the California Angels, then a major-league team.

Eventually landing with the New York Yankees, he pitched in the original Yankee Stadium (“the House that Ruth Built”). That stadium had seen over two dozen World Series winners: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, the 1950s Yankees of Mantle, Berra, Ford and Casey, the 1970s’  Reggie Jackson. Those players represented some of the biggest names and moments in baseball history.

Even among such baseball greats, Jim Abbott not only showed himself to be an All-Star when it came to overcoming adversity. He earned baseball immortality and joined those other Yankee greats in 1993 by pitching a no-hitter at Yankee Stadium.

Not A New Challenge Only

Biblical Job also shows resilience. At first, after repeated  professional and personal disasters, he wants to die (Chapter 3). But with support from colleagues, who argue he somehow brought misfortune on himself, yet stick with him, Job confronts his worst fears, that God would strike him down if he protested.

How have circumstances conspired against you? What adversity are you experiencing that leads you to want to give up? How does Jim Abbott, or Job, provide you with incentive to go on another day, another hour, another minute? How could their stories help you overcome your adversity?

[Source: 6 INSPIRING STORIES OF OVERCOMING ADVERSITY YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW, in Self Esteem by Interconnected Lives March 31, 2015.]

About Grose

Gordon Grose loves most to write, speak, and preach on the message of hope from the book of Job. Using drama, video, and PowerPoint, he has preached and presented this message of hope to churches around the country. Grose pastored three congregations 25 years, then served 12 years as a pastoral counselor in a Portland, Oregon counseling clinic. He now serves with Good Samaritan Counseling Services, Beaverton, OR. A graduate of Wheaton College (IL), Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Brandeis University, and Boston University, he comes from a rich and varied background in theological and counseling training. In 2015, Gordon published Tragedy Transformed: How Job's Recovery Can Provide Hope For Yours, a book about turning to Job for hope after tragedy. If you have experienced life challenges or personal tragedy, visit his Transforming Tragedy (gordongrose.com) blog to learn more. TragedyTransformed.com provides a sample of Gordon's speaking as well as an opportunity to purchase copies of his book.
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