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One of my favorite Bible stories is David versus Goliath. David was small, weaker than most his age and, by the world’s standards, not prepared to play in the “big game” against the Philistines. If we had read the pregame report for this battle, David would not have been on the roster. But David surprised everyone. He was empowered by his belief in a God who could overcome any obstacle or challenge—even a Philistine giant!
Many of us learned the “Jesus Loves Me” song as children, but the last part always bothered me: ”Jesus loves me! This I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong; They are weak but He is strong.” To me, displaying weakness seemed to contradict the very goal of competition.
As I was learning to compete in athletics, the idea of embracing weakness seemed ridiculous. I thought that I had to renounce all that I had learned in the gym in order to become weak. I mean, who has ever been chosen for a team for being the weakest player? Who breaks into a starting lineup because she is weaker than her teammates? I wanted to be strong and display that power for anyone who cared to watch.
Coaches want to be able to tell athletes exactly what they want done, and they want to have the confidence in their players that the job will get done. Coaches want to know that they can tell an athlete to do something and then know that it will be done.
Athletes want coaches to be direct. They want to know what play to run. Athletes want to know what the coach wants, they don't want surprises. Knowing exactly what is expected of them is how an athlete is able to focus on what they have to do.
David gave Solomon this kind of direction in 1 Kings. David knew his time on earth was almost up. He knew that Solomon would need to focus in order to prepare for what was coming. David gave Solomon very direct expectations for his life.
All coaches want to make that perfect play call. That play that will be a guaranteed score. The play that there is just no stopping. And every athlete wants to be the one who runs the perfect play.
As athletes, your coach may tell you to visualize running every play perfectly. You might spend those pre-game moments alone in a quiet area just watching the game play out in your mind. And every one of us sees the same game play through our heads. . . The game is tied, and it is up to us to make the winning shot. We have the ball at the end of the game, and only the perfect play will win it all. Well, we all know that there is no perfect play. Things come up. Things usually don't go exactly how we planned.
Have you ever had a day when the internet just isn't working well? When the internet is slow, it really gets on my nerves. And do you ever want to go to a site, and the site says "Page can not be displayed"? The internet isn't always reliable.
Ever have a day when your shot isn't falling? When your muscles are sore and won't work properly? Have you ever sprained an ankle or torn an ACL? Our bodies aren't always reliable.
Ever had a teammate turn their back on you? Have you ever been disappointed by a friend? Have you ever let someone down yourself? People aren't always reliable.
So what's my point?
Life is like a roller coaster ride. There are ups and downs, fast parts and slow parts, twists and turns, fear and excitement. In our sports we ride this same roller coaster. One play we are up, the next we are down. One game we win, the next we lose. It is one crazy ride.
Ever forget anything? Lately I have been very forgetful. I once heard the story of a man who used to tie a string around his finger to remember important things. However, once he had 10 strings on his hand, he couldn't remember what each string meant! I guess it's a little silly what people will do to try to remember things, but the point is that these things are important to them.
When I was a coach, one of the hardest things was getting my athletes to understand that improvement took place in the off-season. I would always get the same song and dance about their working hard during the season and needing the time off. Let me tell you something. Work ethic is a big deal to a coach. Athletes who put in the work are always better off in the end.
In working with a college Huddle, I hear many struggles and things that the athletes are going through. The pressures of athletic competition are tough, and many athletes turn to the wrong things. They hide their struggles in various places--the internet, a bottle or other things much worse. But they need to know that there is hope!
There are great responsibilities that go along with the great privileges of being a champion. NASCAR driver Kurt Busch had a less-than-stellar image prior to winning the series championship in 2004--something he had worked hard to repair in the early part of the 2005 season. However, heading into the Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge, after a couple of relapses by Busch, NASCAR spokesman Jim Hunter said, "Kurt has a responsibility to the sport and must conduct himself like a champion."
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