ESPN.com currently has an article posted with a headline, “The NFL Panic Meter: How Every Team Feels Right Now.”
Teams are put in the following five categories:
- Everything is fine.
- Good, but uneasy.
- Don’t get comfortable.
- On the brink.
- In an outright panic.
According to the article, the Browns, Packers, Giants, and 49ers have hit a level five and asking “Where is the hope?”
Just yesterday, the Packers lost their leader and star QB, Aaron Rodgers. The Browns continue to struggle across the board…the Giants finally got a win last night, but have countless injuries to overcome…and the 49ers are winless and continue to lose by a few points each week.
The Bears and Raiders are considered to be “on the brink” of panic, while the Ravens, Cowboys, and Bucs are “uneasy, but still not on the edge.” The Philadelphia Eagles are the only team where “everything is fine.”
Plenty of teams will move up and down the panic scale, since we’re only six weeks into the NFL season, but how each team handles their situation is very important. The teams that remain calm, hopeful, and patient won’t allow the panic to result in rash or unwise decisions.
As we begin a new week by looking at our own situations, where do we place ourselves on the “Panic Meter?”
Some of us can probably relate to the winless Browns and 49ers because we’re asking the question, “Where is the hope?” We are either filled with uneasy feelings and consumed with fear about a potential situation, or maybe already stuck in an “outright panic” about existing circumstances.
The truth is, we don’t have to respond with “outright panic” when we face struggles and difficulties in life. As followers of Jesus, we have hope and faith to overcome the fear and uneasy feelings of being “on the brink of panic.”
As the panic starts to rise inside of us, let’s remember to pause, remember the God we serve, and the truth found in His Word.
We are offered hope in Philippians 4:6 (AMP): “Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God.”
Hope is also affirmed when we focus on the right perspective and believe Romans 15:13 (ESV): “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
From our families…to our jobs…to the world…to our health, we have many reasons for being in an “outright panic.” But despite all of our concerns today, let’s be mindful of our hope in the Lord, and be encouraged by Psalm 34:4 (NLT): “I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears.”
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I lay my concerns before You and pray that I would choose hope and faith over fear and panic. Help me to know the power that’s available to me to overcome my circumstances and keep the right perspective. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
