Daily Diary September 24th 2020

A SEASON OF SACRIFICE

Perfect Love Casts Out Fear!

I have been blessed to coach for many years and continue to witness the spiritual side of life that we are all a part of.  Spiritual things seem silly to the “WORLD” but once you have trusted God at his Word and implement it into life, you begin see how “REAL” and “True” His plan is for us. 

Since playoffs are happening for Leedey baseball today I was led to this story about sacrifice and unity that I wanted to share with you.

As our 2018 Travelers concluded that we all are capable of failure, the group began to “HUMBLE” themselves.  We concluded that we are ALL in this together and the pride of pointing fingers was no longer an option.  “Together” we would be responsible for our overall approach to the game.  This included myself as head coach getting guys thrown out at home plate in key situations among others.  All of us needed to unite in a common bond that would protect us from fear of failure.  

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

Our group concluded that we would love each other no matter what!  This included picking each other up after mistakes and pressing on together, believing in one another until the end.  When this happens, it is an example of “FAITH”.  This kind of faith opens the door to “supernatural” things taking place among the group.  God loves to bless His children with great things and a lot of times God surprises us. He has the ability to do amazing things in our lives when we trust Him at His Word no matter what.  

Leading up to the final games in the South Plains Regional Tournament our team had several finger pointing opportunities.  All of our infielders had made key errors in games that were costly and forced us to push through.  Our base running had cost us runs on several occasions, especially when I sent them home to be thrown out.  Our pitchers at times didn’t throw strikes in critical counts that cost us as well.  We all could make a hundred excuses as to why we would fail or not be good enough for the situations we faced!

Through humility the team continued to believe in our outcomes as a part of the BIG picture. This would lead us to grow in a new team concept.  We simply needed to push through to see our blessings unfold.  It’s about eliminating blame and shame!  

Blame and shame comes from pride, condemnation, and fear.  It can be the core break down of every group.  Whether it be a team, business or family this blame and shame is often our down fall as people.

Philippians 2:14-16 Do everything without grumbling or arguing, ¹⁵ so that you may become blameless and pure,“children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.”^[a] Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

I believe the 2018 Travelers shined among teams like the stars in the sky until the end.  This is not by accident or by chance.  It is because this group applied principle foundations found in God’s word based on truth. I saw other teams grumble and point fingers toward many things that broke their unity and caused them to fight against each other. Our team pushed through to a place of unity.  Whether our team and fans knew it or not this was a spiritual foundation that began to manifest itself in the physical.

Our run in 2018 did fall short in a game that we made 4 errors and practically every player on the team had more than one chance to do something to help in our effort to win.  This team didn’t blame each other but kept fighting forward picking each other up along the way.  This is an example of sacrifice.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.

In all my years of coaching I can say that after the season is over, there is either a feeling of doing everything you can or there are “excuses”.  I have simply learned that in God’s plan and a place of unity we finish with NO excuses because of the fact we are in this together.  Living and dying as one.  

I have been blessed to coach a lot of great teams and many have reached this place when biblical background is given a chance to work. Yes, championships have been won by those teams many times and other times we fall short.  The final outcome on the scoreboard is not always where we find “VICTORY” together.  It is in the process of “LIFE” that God gave us the example of that we get to share in. It’s a place of Hope, Love, Trust and mostly “ACCEPTANCE” that we share together as a group.  

In 2018 We belonged to each other and we were pointed towards a God that can do great things with “unity”.  My prayer is that we can all taste the true goodness of God’s plan so it can become a part of our daily lives.  We can experience this great acceptance and love in our family, workplace and beyond. We simply need to seek God and let His plan unfold in our lives without the blame and shame.  

As a coach I have learned to understand the magnitude of the situation we have and how important the process of our team can be for raising up young men.  I always find myself unworthy of that great responsibility and turn it over to God.  I am thankful.  These players chose to Trust the Truth that we heard together.