August 29, 2022 - Does the coach have a short leash?

Have you ever played for a coach that keeps players on a “short leash’” waiting to yank them to the bench every time they do something wrong? That type of coach is typically not much fun to play for… it leaves players tight and more prone to make mistakes. As a coach I wanted to do things for the good of the team… 

When players simply messed up, I would often leave them on the floor to learn, or play through, their mistakes… and if I did yank them out of the game, it was simply to explain the plan better and then get them right back in to try again; yet, if the mistake was willful disregard to what I had instructed, I was more apt to yank on the leash and give them a seat next to me to talk about their willingness to follow the game plan… In other words, I believed that poor execution of a play or skill needed repeated opportunities to get it right… but poor understanding needed me to explain things better… and a poor attitude needed an attitude-adjustment… a change in the way they were thinking.

Bottom line was that I always hoped as a coach to get the players thinking right, knowing that was needed for them to play right. My goal was for the team to be better, but that required individuals to be better… BUT WHEN THE PLAYERS FAILED TO SEE MY HEART IN THE MATTER AS THE COACH, THEY TENDED TO TIGHTEN UP OR EVEN SHUT DOWN. (Unfortunately, I can remember some times I failed to follow my own principle and can still picture the hurt on the players’ faces… times when I needed to think differently!)

This all came to mind today as I thought about how people view God… some assuming He is just sitting in heaven waiting for us to mess up and yanks us out of the game… or some theological views that He is just waiting to kick us off the team... some looking at others in judgement and questioning why God is “looking the other way.” I’m not going to try in this short weekly devotional to write a theology treatise, but I am going to let the Playbook itself answer it…

Romans 2:3-4 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgement of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

The end goal seems to be thinking right… which leads to playing right…

[Definition: Metanoia (repentance) = a change of mind]

Aren’t you thankful for a God that is longsuffering and lets us play through some mistakes? I say/write it often but here it goes again: GOD IS ON YOUR SIDE!