The Right Mindset When You’re on a Losing Streak
Baseball is a streaky sport. It’s a long season, with major league teams typically playing 162 games throughout the course of one season. Most days during the season, teams play a game. There are also a few off-days thrown into the mix, and a five-day break at the halfway point. With that many days of games, it’s hard for teams to maintain steady, high levels of excellence from the beginning of the season straight through to the end. This might be a more manageable feat if the season was shorter, right? Or if it included fewer games? But with 162 games, streaks of highs and lows are bound to happen.
Unfortunately, my beloved Kansas City Royals were on a tragic streak for most of the 2023 season. This year, though, they did much better (and even ended up making the playoffs)! But thinking way back to April, the Royals started the season strong, much to the pleasant surprise of fans. In fact, they started off so strong that when they had their first real rough patch of the season, it hit hard. They were shut out for 22 consecutive innings in the midst of a road trip that finished with a 2-7 record.
I suppose you could think of your life as one long season. If you’re reading this, your season has probably been longer than 162 days. It’s hard to stay on track, running toward Jesus consistently every single day. Can you recall a time when you lived through a “losing streak” of some sort? Maybe you’re in the middle of one right now. We all go through seasons where we’re in the midst of a load of hitless at bats. Maybe you haven’t been to church in a few weeks, or your Bible has sat untouched for the past month. Perhaps you signed up for a Bible study, but then life happened, and you haven’t been to a session in several weeks.
Don’t give up! Just because you’re in a rough patch doesn’t mean you can’t come out of it. Baseball teams go through losing streaks, and sometimes they suffer through many consecutive innings without a hit. But because they know it’s a long season, they don’t give up. They keep striving, keep working, keep showing up every day, and keep trying to get back on track. And I promise, no team struggling with a hitless streak in June is going to remain hitless through the end of the season in September. It’s a long season!
Eventually, as players keep pressing forward, they usually work themselves right out of whatever struggle they’re in. Not on their own, though! It takes the help of coaches, the encouragement of teammates, and the continued support of fans.
The Bible talks about persevering in faith, even when it’s difficult. Here is some encouragement from God’s Word to help you
- Hold onto hope! Don’t give up. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. -Hebrews 10:23-25
- Trust that your perseverance is helping you grow. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. -James 1:2-4
- Give each day purpose and intention. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. -1 Corinthians 9:24-27
- Keep your eyes on Jesus. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. -Hebrews 12:1-3
So if you feel like you’re on a losing streak, and you’re losing hope for getting back on track with Jesus, just keep on keeping on. Lean in and get energy from your fellow believers, your pastor, the Holy Spirit, God’s Word, worship music, a sermon podcast, or anything that might help you hold onto hope and keep moving forward with purpose and intention. Trust that as you choose to persevere, you are growing and maturing. Most importantly, keep your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.
The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series in 2006. The biggest prize of all! So they must have won pretty much every game all season long, right? If they were the best team in the league? Not even close. The team finished 83-78 in the regular season, but what’s more, two different times the Cardinals had eight-game losing streaks. What do you think the players felt like during those stretches? Remember, it was eight days in a row of defeat—for a team filled with professional baseball players, mind you. (They’re supposed to be good, aren’t they?) And remember, this happened not only once, but twice. But the players kept on keeping on. Their coaches kept working with them, the fans kept showing up to support them, and the teammates kept encouraging one another, and this team ended the season as champions of Major League Baseball.
Life will be streaky, but you can keep on keeping on. Take the next step, and Jesus will pull you through and bring you back into step with Him. Hold onto hope! Better days are always ahead.