Against All Hope
All week I have been praying about what to write in my next blog post. Up until now, since starting Spirit Led Coach, I could hardly put my pen down as God has giving me a non-stop flow of ideas of what to share in His blog. Coming off our first loss of the season, things seemed to come to a sudden slam on the breaks kind of stop. I preach to my team to enjoy the journey instead of focusing only on the destination. One of our goals was to be the last NAIA Division 2 team to remain unbeaten. For only the second time in my career we were blessed to accomplish this goal. In order to accomplish this goal we broke down our goals to winning the week. In the NAIA Tournament in order to make the Final Four you must win three games in four days, Wed-Sat. So in preparation for doing that, we focus on three wins in a row or winning the week. From there we focus even more on the opponent standing in front of us and prepare the game plan for going 1-0, because you can’t go 3-0, if you don’t go 1-0. From there we talk about breaking the game down to winning five minute battles, beginning with the first 5 minutes. From there we talk about each player winning their match-up by accepting and giving all they have to accomplish their role on the team.
Then we talk about the simple effort of winning one play, what detail will give you the advantage of winning that play! I first heard the rope concept from Coach Greg Popovich and the Spurs. It’s all about staying on the rope, when someone moves or pulls, you must move either rotating on Defense, moving the ball, or cut to the basket. A goal of becoming a single unit flowing together effortlessly without fear and in rhythm. I like to call it organized chaos. Yes we have sets or patterns, but there are so many options inside the system. You must be prepared to adjust and stay on the rope as a thousand of decisions are being made simultaneously throughout the game. That’s what makes basketball so unique and special. It is such a fast flowing game. With the addition of the shot clock and the 3pt-line, the game has become even faster as athletes continue to get bigger, more athletic and shoot better. But here is the question i have for you today. What happens when the rope stops?
At 17-0, we were last unbeaten team and achieved the number one ranking for only the 3rd time in school history. Before we could even stop to enjoy, on the very same day we lose a heart-breaker against our conference rival at home. A game you were leading with two minutes to play. This time our opponent made the big plays down the stretch as we missed key free throws and could not get the big stops to seal the victory. It was like we reached the light at the end of the tunnel, but this time it was a freight train which waiting to crush us.
What do you do when the unexpected shows up? When you go in to hear the heartbeat of your expected baby and you don’t hear one single beat. You find out how much pain comes with the devastating blow of a miscarriage. Something we experience twice. Or when you reach the final stages of possibly becoming a head coach for the first time, only to find out that the selection committee chose someone else. Something I have experienced dozens of times. Or when an unexpected car wreck, injury, or sickness occurs to one of your players or loved ones bringing everything, bring all momentum of the rope to a crashing stop! Something that once again has happened to me numerous times, losing key players to injury and multiple loved ones to cancer including my father.
What do you do when Hope is lost?
In one of my darkest hours in life, God revealed the answer to this question to me. You would be amazed how God speaks to you when you read His Word. I was reading Romans. One of my heroes in the Bible is Paul. He went from a stone cold killer of Christians, to an unbelievable blinding encounter with the Savior, to a man on a mission willing to endure anything to share the Gospel and save souls. If anyone knows what to do when the rope stops, it is Paul! I was reading in Roman that day, Chapter 4 to be exact. We had come to an absolute low losing three straight games, the season was on the brink of ending any hope of reaching the postseason. As I reach verse 18, I read the following words,
“Against All Hope”.
I stopped for a second as time seemed to stand still. You know God controls time right? He once answered a prayer for Joshua by making the sun stand still so he could win a battle. Yes God stopped time. So once again I will repeat for you the three words that I read that day, “Against All Hope”.
When the rope and the hope stop, what do you do?
Abraham had come to that exact same place. God had changed his name from Abram to Abraham meaning “Father of Many Nations” and had given him a promise, but at 99 years old Abraham had lost ALL HOPE of becoming a Father. Yet in Romans 4:18, it says Abraham refused to stay down. One thing I have learned is never stay down when you get knocked down and are injured. Become Rocky Balboa and get to your feet! Abraham did, “Against All Hope, Abraham in Hope! Became the Father of Nations!” Talk about an oxymoron of enormous power. When you got No Hope, You Have Hope! It’s called Faith. It’s when you allow God to enter your equation. It is when you choose to whether to give up or to believe God can do a miracle.
In 2013, our team theme was “Get in the Wheelbarrow”. It came from a story about a tightrope walker by the name of Charles Blondin. In the 1850’s Blondin was not only walking on a tightrope near Niagara Falls, He was performing tricks while doing so. One of the tricks was pushing a wheelbarrow while crossing the Niagara Gorge on a wire. The story goes once he reached the other side, the crowd goes crazy giving Blondin a loud cheer. Blondin ask, “How many want to see me to this again?” All hands go up. “How many believe I can do it again?” All hands go up. “Good, Can I get a volunteer to get in the wheelbarrow?” Not a single hand went up. Everyone Believes God Can, Few Believes He will! We chose to believe that season. It was the season that I felt God told me to start carrying my Bible, my sword, like Eleazar in 2 Samuel 23:10 when he chose Hope instead of retreating in battle that day. He won a mighty victory as the sword froze to his hand as had slain enemy after enemy. So I carried my Bible and stood by a close friend named David who had been given no hope with the diagnosis of stage 4 bone cancer. It was my second season at SAGU. The Lions has never been over .500 until my first season. We did not even make the NAIA Tournament that season. After I started carrying my Sword all the time as God had led me to do as I battled with my friend David against cancer, my team got on the rope! Winning 17 straight games on our way to the Conference Championship Game. That night prior to the game I got a text from David. It said three letters “NED”. I was sitting at my desk and for a minute i pondered what could “NED” mean. I finally sent David a “?”. His response “No Evidence of Disease”! Against All Hope, God showed up as He has done time and time again in my life. He can do the same for you! God went on to lead us to the NAIA Championship game in 2013 where they did a special telling the testimony of David on ESPN 3. God had a plan!
The title of my second book is NED, as i detail many of the miracles God has done in my life. It will soon be available along with my first book on the books link on SLC!
As I mentioned, we lost a heartbreaking game this past Monday night. Hope blinked as it is hard to even enjoy our Number one ranking right now after the defeat. I wanted to blog, but since that moment our opponent hit a dagger three from the corner to end the game, my hope has struggled to get to its feet.
I am going to give you one more secret from the Bible in this blog today. Want help? Pray. When you don’t hear anything draw even closer, seek more! Cause when you seek the Father with all you have! Seek Him diligently and you will find Him! The Bible says so! If it gets hard, then pray and fast. Sacrifice and Serve, Praise in the Pit, Do the exact opposite of how you feel. Get up!
This blog post came out of a dream I had last night after much praying, fasting, and seeking. You probably think i am crazy but a few years ago i had my team stay on the bus as the girls went in to eat. I asked them if they would fast the pregame meal and instead offer a sacrificial praise to God. Most of them had never fasted. We worshiped as one and then we won a major road battle that night, which got the rope moving again! The next day when I got up early to read His Word. He showed me Romans 4:18. We won another major road battle that next night as God propelled us into the postseason. Not telling you what to do, just showing you what Abraham did. His wife had a baby at age 100! I think that is the kind of faith worth following!
I feel led to share my dream. In both Acts 2:17 & Joel 2:28, the Bible says in the last days God will pour out His Spirit on all people, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams. At 49, I am getting older, lol. I dream on occasion, but on special occasions like this especially when praying, seeking, and fasting, I know when my dream is a word from above. I Love when my Father speaks to me.
I am with my kids swimming in a small lake similar to what we have on campus. Crazy but I am in the water by the shore and a lion’s cubs are along the edge. I feel fearless enough to not be fearful of the Lion and reach my hand up out of the water to play with the cubs. The Lion walks over to me and I have a choice to either become fearful or pet the Lion. Just as the Lion gets to me, a tornado forms in the background, I fear for my kids who are swimming, I tell them to hurry and get out of the water and run. We are in a neighborhood and multiple tornadoes are forming all around us as everyone is panicking running and things are flying at us from all over. I can’t even keep all my kids close to me as all Hell is breaking loose. It appears that all is going to be lost and I lose sight of my children. The Tornado is coming right at me. Just when I am losing All Hope. The Storm is lifted. So much destruction, many lost in the devastating storm, but I find my kids safe and peace comes over me as I wake up with Hope Restored. I knew immediately what I was supposed to write about in this blog. Thank You Lord for your Faithfulness. Especially in the Storm, you promise us never to leave us nor forsake us, if only we Ask, Seek, and Call His name! He is a Good Father, a Faithful Father. A Father of Hope with Jeremiah 29 Plans to Prosper Us.
I hope you consider reading both my books, For His Glory and NED. They will be available very soon.