Crisis & Tragedy
Someone on this team is struggling. Not just having a hard week — really struggling.
And I want to talk about what you can actually do. Because the instinct — to not say anything, to give them space, to pretend you haven’t noticed — is often exactly the wrong response. The person who is struggling usually feels invisible. The most powerful thing you can do is make them feel seen.
Read this passage slowly.
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2 — NIVLet that sit for a second before you move.
Carry each other’s burdens. Not: watch each other carry burdens and feel sympathetic about it. Carry. Active, specific, bearing some of the weight alongside the person who has too much of it.
What does that look like practically for a teammate who is struggling with mental health? A few specific things.
Show up. Not with a script or a solution — with presence. The text that says you’re thinking about them. The invitation to eat together. The check-in that is genuine rather than performative. Presence is the most powerful thing you have to offer.
Don’t try to fix it. Mental health struggles require professional support. Your job is not to be their therapist. It’s to be their teammate — to hold space, to not disappear, to demonstrate that the struggle doesn’t change their membership in this team.
If you’re worried, say something to an adult. To a coach, an athletic trainer, a counselor. Not as a betrayal — as care. The teammate who is struggling may not be able to ask for the level of help they need. You can be the one who makes sure it gets to them.
Carry the burden. That’s the instruction. Show up and stay.
The person who is struggling usually feels invisible. The most powerful thing you can do is make them feel seen. Show up and stay.
What is one specific thing you can do for your struggling teammate in the next 48 hours? Not the ideal response — the thing you’ll actually do.
Specific and immediate. The commitment is for 48 hours, not in general.
Show up. Stay. Don’t fix it. If you’re worried, tell someone who can help.
This devotional should be delivered in a way that doesn’t expose the struggling teammate or make them feel like the subject of a group intervention. Handle with significant care.