I recently
spoke with a friend of mine who is a football coach, and he was saying how the
team was at that point in the season where they were having a hard time staying
focused at practice. It is week seven of the season and while there are
always a few new wrinkles in the offense and the defense, basically they are
doing the same things they have been doing for two and a half months. The
team seemed to have kicked it into neutral - and while they were still moving
forward, they were no longer moving forward with any purpose. Coach said
he understood how they felt because he was feeling the same thing- a certain
weariness that sets in and it was becoming difficult to maintain the level of
effort and concentration he once felt. This feeling is actually elevated
when things are going well. His team is on a 4 game winning streak where
they have beaten tough opponents and played better than expected. So the
team shows up but they are kind of going through the motions. I know this
feeling from my own life - things are going pretty well with my family, my
friends, my relationship with the Father, and I begin to coast, I take my foot
off of the accelerator, shift into neutral and begin to coast. The thing
about coasting is no matter how fast you are going to begin with, as soon as
you start to coast you begin to decelerate, to slow down, to shut down, and as
soon as you lose your momentum it takes a lot more force to get rolling
again. The fact that momentum lost is hard to regain is why every
good coach fights so hard during the doldrums of each season to keep his team
motivated, focused, and ready for the challenges that lie ahead. He knows he
will eventually meet the opponent that requires all the momentum his team can
muster if they are to overcome. It needs to be the same way in our
personal and spiritual lives. When things are good we cannot afford to
take our foot off of the gas. If life has taught us anything it should be
to recognize that there is trouble around the next bend and we just may need a
vibrant connection with the Father to get through it.
The
Israelites were always going through this cycle. They would experience a
time of struggle, then turn their hearts to God and He would bring about a
great victory. Inevitably the Israelites would begin to coast and before you
knew it they would once again be in a mess. I know this is the cycle I
find in my own life if on a smaller scale. I struggle, and somewhere in
the struggle my Father encourages me, strengthens me and gets me headed, once
again, in the right direction. Then when everything seems to be going just fine
I become weary and I coast and then I am “surprised” when I find myself in a
new mess.
The problem
is we peek at the scoreboard. We seem to have the “game” well in hand,
our opponent seems defeated, our life (substitute: marriage, job, schoolwork,
raising our kids…) is running smoothly. Why shouldn’t we just take it
easy? But we must remember that the opposition, while defeated, is
constant. Even when Jesus was tempted in the Wilderness, after He
defeated the Devil three times, the Devil left Him alone until “a more opportune
time” (Luke 4:13). I am not suggesting we need to be freaked out
that the Devil is after us - I am merely saying we need to (1 Peter 5:8) 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the
devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
The guys I know who are great Champions never know the “score”. They are
just as tough when they are being blown out as when they are blowing someone
else out. They are resolute regardless of the situation. Champions
keep doing what they have been called to do and they always continue to
improve. We need to keep our hands on the wheel and our foot on the
accelerator. This is no time to let up. Now is the time to keep
pressing toward the mark for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ
Jesus!
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