Stop questioning the coach and get in the game! {just a tip from a coach’s wife}

I need you to trust me.

I have heard these words many times the last few weeks.

From my husband, as parents and players question his coaching decisions.  Fathers and mothers find themselves free to offer guidance to the coach as to where to position their sons on the field and how often to put their boys in the game.  Players, in all their teenage genius, impulsively act on prideful self-sufficiency questioning their coach’s discernment and wisdom.

Forgetting (or not caring) that the coach has the team’s best interest in mind and has a game plan meticulously created after hours of intense analysis and scrutiny, the parents and players often act on emotion.  And self-trust.

My husband offers a challenge to each doubtful complainer.

I need you to trust me.

I ponder this truth.  And I wonder, “Is that me?”  Do I trust my Coach?  He has a well-designed game plan.  But, when it doesn’t surface to meet my expectations and when it doesn’t offer the experience I’d anticipated, I find myself a self-trusting complainer.  Questioning God’s positions and strategies.  Forgetting (or not caring) that the Coach has His team’s best interest in mind and has designed a course of action with a knowledge of which I’m unaware, I act on emotion.

And, there I am, again.  A doubtful skeptic.

With this revelation fresh in my soul, I travel alone to Guatemala.  Knowing God has sent me to a particular place.  But not knowing why.

I need you to trust Me.

Awaking each morning to the lack of an itinerary but a surplus of uncertainty.

I need you to trust Me.

Stepping into rickety boats to cross dark waters with a hand-drawn map hoping for favor while doubting my destination.

I need you to trust Me.

Wandering through paths of wooded Mayan mountains aching to experience faith but fighting a more present fear.

I need you to trust Me.

Entering into unknowns void of enough words to communicate clearly in a foreign language.

I need you to trust Me.

I was never forced to choose faith.

My heart has pondered the obvious alternatives.  My fears relentlessly chase my fidelity.  And, this doubtful skeptic questions the game plan.  I could quit the team before the next quarter and walk off the field.

But, I’d miss out.

As God coached me along the unknown paths, I found myself in a place I’d never imagined.  My game plan was shredded as His came to life.  And, now I find myself playing a position I had once only dreamed of being worthy to fill.  I am certainly unaware of how the events will unfold.  And, oh how I wish for my life to be pre-recorded on DVR so I could push play, skip through the fumbles and watch each touchdown on a big screen until the final quarter ends.

But, then I’d miss out.

Because, by traveling with Christ as a trusting follower, what I have found to be true is an amazing communion with a faithful God.

One who loves me enough, even when questioning His discernment and filled with self-trust, to offer the challenge.

I need you to trust Me.