I ended last week’s “game plan” with these words: “Trust the Coach, not the scoreboard!” I also mentioned an old adage coaches use that says “trust the process.”
Those words sound good but I feel there are some things we need to further address in order to pull this off. Trusting a coach has the implication that sometimes you may not understand what He is doing… his decisions on when to play you… how to use you… when to correct you… etc.
I have probably shared in these weekly “game plans” the following example on at least one occasion, maybe more… (after all in just a few weeks CoachBurden.com turns 20 years old.) In my office I have a photo of me in a huddle when I was coaching high school basketball; in it I can point out some players that to this day I still have an incredible relationship with… to the point I get messages like, “Coach, I love you and miss you.” Also in the picture is at least one young man that despised me as a coach. The other important information pertaining to the photo, I am very clearly angry at one or more of my players… and the one it seems directed at happens to be one that has sent me messages about missing me??????????
Why would some love me and yet others hate me? It really boiled down, not to circumstances, but to character! The ones that loved me were convinced I was on their side… even when I was frustrated or making a decision they didn’t understand. They could “trust the process” because they knew I would only make a decision based upon what I thought was good for them… The one(s) that hated me simply did not trust my character… that I was on their side, and thus their approval always rested on if the circumstances were what they wanted and envisioned.
Multiple times this week I have been in counseling/teaching settings where I had to remind people that we should not allow circumstances to be how we judge if God is on our side. He sees things in a different way than we do. And if we only believe God loves us when things are going our way, we are doomed to doubt when life is hard.
God is good! God is love! My personal circumstances do not determine those truths!
If God does or allows something I don’t understand, I rest in His goodness and love, even if I don’t like the current circumstances. I have often taught the following truth: God and life are not synonyms! I add to that: Circumstances and character are not synonyms!
As Jesus was facing his arrest and crucifixion, He knew the apostles would encounter circumstances they would not understand… circumstances that would make them feel God had left them (which in a physical since He did.) And Jesus shared these words on how to handle even difficult times:
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in (trust)
God, believe (trust) also in Me.” (John 14:1)
As He told them to trust, even in the dark times coming,
He went on to remind them: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)
So we may boldly say, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not
fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6)
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