Nike sold a lot of shoes with their slogan “Just Do It.” Now, I’m not a Bible scholar or professional minister, but I think Nike should give some church somewhere a little compensation because I think they were probably the ones who came up with the phrase.

Last night, in the NCAA women’s national championship game, the Texas A&M Aggies took that quote to heart in their victory over Notre Dame. According to the post-game interviews, their coach had to “coach hard” during the game in order for the team to be successful. And the women responded well, topping the Irish 76-70.

As I stood in the phone booth, tears came to my eyes. I had just called my parents to let them know that I would be flying home that night to Los Angeles. The Cleveland Cavaliers had become the third straight NBA team that I had failed to make.

How could this happen? I had such high hopes of realizing my dream to play in the NBA when I was drafted out of the University of Iowa, but it was becoming clear to me that dreams don’t always come true.

As the tears ran down my face, I thought that my days as a basketball player were over. I had lost my identity. Basketball was my life. What would the future hold now? I should have known that my future was in the hands of Someone bigger than myself. Yes, God was still in control, even if I was not aware of it.

Coaches cannot make everyone happy. We hear cruel and untrue remarks shouted at us from the stands every game day. “You’re not playing the right person—you don’t know what you’re doing—I could coach better than that in my sleep!” It is easy to dwell on these comments, respond to them with anger, or lash back at shouters in the stands. The difficult task is to respond as Jesus would respond, and we learn how to do that from his example in Scripture. Responding to ignorance is even more difficult when we are criticized for seeking to live godly lives. The Apostle Peter teaches us that actions speak louder than words when it comes to bearing witness before those who ridicule us.