Charger Nation,
Game #1 is finally here. We have been looking forward to this game since December 14th last year when we got beat in the dome. Just like the team we played in the dome, North Florida Christian is a great opponent. We are kind of blind to what type of team they are this year because this is the first game for both teams, but we do know the leader of their team is #16, Korey Charles. Last year he played tailback and safety/cornerback and has committed to play for Mississippi State. I read somewhere that they have 8-9 kids on the team with division 1 offers but I also don’t really believe that. We will find out tonight. Either way, NFC is a perennial power and have been good for a long time. Coach Queen, our athletic director, played high school football (wide receiver) there so that is where/how we have connected with them. His QB was Casey Weldon. Coach Queen says Weldon would have never been so famous had he not made him look good in high school.
Honestly, these boys have been looking forward to game #1 since last December. Right when we returned from Christmas break we began a rigorous off-season development program which also required 5:58 AM Crucibles every Wednesday morning. After May, we headed into our summer workouts and our boys worked their tails off. I am not going to say this is the most talented team I have coached from top to bottom, but I do believe this is one of the most bought in and focused teams I have ever coached. There is no challenge they don’t respond to with amazing effort and energy; they are an absolute joy to coach.
We have worked extremely hard and we are ready for this game tonight. There is nothing more we can do and I could not have asked for a better past 8 months of preparation. So as I sit here this morning with nothing more I can do to prepare and this Bible verse is running through my mind which many of you have heard from me many times: “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” (Proverbs 21:31).
The only thing God has given control over in regards to the future is our preparation leading up to an event. I always tell the boys that “what I do today will determine my success tomorrow.” The Lord also promises to work for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). We also learn that as we prepare for the future and work diligently on plans we have created and feel God will bless that God may have a different plan for our life than we expected: “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21)
Last night I was texting back and forth with some young men that I have coached in the past and things are not going for them as they have expected. They are great kids and have worked their tails off but for some reason life is throwing them a curveball that was not in their plans. In many ways they feel like failures because how they expected their life to go, things outside of their control have altered their course. As long as they are entrusting their life to Jesus Christ they can rest assured that God is involved in those curveballs. They must continue to work hard and pursue excellence while drawing near to God and following his ways and plans for their life. God often times keeps the door shut we so desperately want opened but he waiting for us and moving us along to the door he has unlocked for us. We must trust in him and never give up!
When life is not going how we expect and we have feelings of despair I believe we really need to examine our relationship with Jesus Christ. As the all-knowing Sovereign King of the world, God is always working in the lives of those who he has called according to his purposes and to whom he loves. What God is always doing with his people is loosening their grip on this world and making them look to him so they desire Christ and not this world. So when things don’t go my way, even though I have worked my tail off and done everything in my power to be successful, I can trust in Jesus Christ and his perfect plan for my life. I can trust that the plan and course I had for my life was the wrong one and entrust my ways to the one who knows the future and what is best for me: Jesus Christ.
So tonight as we head into this game I run to it with confidence. I believe in the young men and I love the young men I coach. The players and coaches preparation leading up to this event could not have been any better. I could not ask for a harder working group of players and coaches. Everyone likes each other (as best 70 boys can like each other seeing each other day in and day out.) Everything is right about this team. So I confidently and excitedly know “the horse is made ready for the day of battle.”
On the opposite side of the spectrum, is the anxiety we all get about the unknown and uncertainties in life. I can work my tail off, I can prepare, but I still don’t know what the future holds and this produces anxiety. But I will rest in the master plan of Jesus Christ. My plan is to win tonight but God’s plan is perfect. I plan to have victory tonight but “victory belongs to the Lord.” What is good in my eyes is winning tonight but “God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.” My point is this, what our minds perceive as good and what we so desperately desire, God’s view of good for me may be a little different. He gives us what we need and is constantly transforming us. I can run to this game tonight with no anxiety and extreme confidence because I worship a Sovereign and Almighty God who controls all things and is always working for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Win or lose, it is for our benefit: “Victory belongs to the Lord.”
Win the Day!
Wholly for Christ,
Coach Gess
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