COG
Lately one of the things that God has been pressing into my spirit is to see both the unseen and also to better understand the value of little things. It is through these two windows that few travel. Traveling through a window makes little to no sense unless you have an imagination, the ability to dream, and a whole lot of faith.
I will talk about the spiritual battle that rages in the unseen world more in my next blog, but for now I feel led to focus on the importance of little things that are nearly impossible to see clearly without intentional focus.
It is amazing how simple words like the, but, and or can often change everything. I heard a funny riddle today as a coach who had read my last blog asked me what John the Baptist and Winnie the Pooh have in common. It took me a while, but I was able to come up with honey. The answer: honey and the same middle name. The little word “THE”. Rarely capitalized, but for some reason, even though a person, we refer to “THE HOLY SPIRIT”! Maybe we should be placing the in front of the Holy Spirit as a sign of our respect to his importance. I can definitely deal with placing the in front of Holy Spirit. As an OU fan, I will never refer to Ohio State as the Ohio State University. Sorry, just can’t do it.
Let’s go even a step further. It seems somewhat miraculous to me that a single letter can often change an entire meaning of a word. Here is an example of a single letter making all the difference.
The word faint is possibly the absolute sorriest word in the English language. When looking up the definition of the word, I could not find a single definition that even gave me the faintest of desire to associate it with my vocabulary. Here are a few of the definitions: weak, languid (poor effort), inclined to swoon, feeble, exhausted, dull light, cowardly, timorous, poor resistance, dejected, depressed, or to vanish or disappear under pressure. The absolute worst word I found that described the word faint is the word DESPIRITED – To be completely without the Holy Spirit!!!
Isaiah 40:31 is one of my favorite verses. I love how it begins with the little inconspicuous word but.
“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be FAINT!”
Let’s put the word faint to pasture by changing one simple letter. Switching the letter ‘a’ to ‘e’, which gives us the word FEINT. It has the exact pronunciation and unless you are a boxer or familiar with jousting, you probably have never heard the word. Honestly, I had never heard the word feint prior to reading an article recently about a boxer named Tyson Fury. The word caught me off guard so I looked up the meaning. It means an attack aimed at one point merely as a distraction from the real point of attack, a pretend or fake blow, or a movement made in order to deceive an adversary.
By changing one simple letter, the word went from pure absolute weakness to a planned attack for success. As coaches we constantly design plays using feints. They are the backbone to much of our success. Faint “no backbone”, Feint “an often integral used strategy of a successful attack”. One letter completely different results.
When I played football in grade school. My only play call as a 90 lb. tight end on a run only team was “The Statue of Liberty”. I personally would argue this play is the ultimate feint in football. I absolutely love the play, that is, until Boise State used it to upset my Oklahoma Sooners in a bowl game a few years back.
Coaches ask me all the time for practice drills or offensive and defensive sets that will change their fortune. My answer is usually simple. It is so simple that is not what most coaches want to hear. We call our system organized chaos. I believe basketball flows best when players are allowed to be creative and play fearlessly. I often say fear blocks more shots than any defensive player. As soon as I say that, most coaches assume that I just roll the ball out and we win simply because we have better players and work harder. What they don’t see is the attention to detail and how we focus on doing the little things with great effort and attitude. How we catch a pass, how we cut, how we communicate with our hands, and how we play off each other all is based on little details. I have heard it compared to being on a rope, everyone connected, and when you move everyone moves both on offense and defense. Same thing applies to when the ball moves. Our rope is the Holy Spirit!
I would guess my players would say two things about me.
I am a Jesus freak and a detail freak.
Let’s see if we can connect the two. What is a cog? By definition a cog is a very small but vital part of a larger machine. It takes at least two cogs to make a gear work. Even though cogs are small, without them, the machine has no power. When cogs, often called teeth, are connecting as gears turn, only then can an enormous amount of power can be created.
Let’s turn COG into the acronym “Children of God”. A single small Child of God can be very powerful when the Holy Spirit is working through them, but what if we were to work together in unity. Unifying and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through each of us. We would change the world. I am talking about a power that is completely limitless and unmeasurable! After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus had the Holy Spirit inside him without measure. He said that he had to leave, so the Spirit could return and live in us. He added that we would have the potential to do even greater things than He did. We are now the body of Christ, that the Holy Spirit desires to work through just as He did through Jesus. That is limitless power! The Spirit is on earth to glorify Jesus and to fulfill whatever the Father desires.
I believe that all my favor and blessing come from the Lord. I praise my King for even the smallest of things. A doctor friend at Men’s Bible Study today, gave his usual response when asked what he was thankful for. His answer “breath”. Another regular added “water”. I love that these two older gentleman, who have been blessed financially, still understand the value of things that most overlook. The Spirit spoke to me after the two men commented about breath and water. Without these two necessities we die. He reminded me that God’s Breath in Hebrew is Ruah, meaning Spirit, and in the Bible when referring to the Holy Spirit, prophets almost always refer to water? Just like breath and water, without another necessity,the Holy Spirit, we also die.
Spirt Led Coach is not my source of family income, at this time, it is completely a ministry for me. Even when it comes to my source of income, coaching, I know God is in complete control. I have never hesitated to share the secrets to our success. Why? Because all my success and glory honestly are a result of God’s favor and grace. I absolutely love hearing success stories of by brothers and sisters in Christ. Anything I can do to help support ministries like FCA, AIA, NOC, and Sports Spectrum is worth its weight in gold to me. These are just a few of the many ministries that have poured into my life. Preachers, teachers, singers, and athletes that use their platform to spread the gospel are all COG’s and vital parts of the KINGDOM, no matter how small of cog they are in God’s Kingdom.
One of my goals on SLC is to highlight, honor, and share with you many of these ministries that will help you grow in faith. One of my players this week brought a book in and asked if I had read it. He shared the book with me. It is a must read. A book by Joshua Medcalf called Chop Wood Carry Water. It is a short read. I highly recommend you have your sons, daughters, and players read it. In chapter three titled “How much is an inch worth?” Josh does an incredible job explaining how over time, even the smallest of habit or choice can change our lives immensely. He points out the inability of people to see the big picture, thus missing the importance of valuing their small daily choices. While eating a donut, nobody thinks about the effect it is having on their future. Why? Because the decision is not hurting them now. Add those decisions up and you have a result nobody wants. Flip that thought process and over time the smallest wise decisions take you places few choose to go. Why? Because few realize or take value in the small things or decisions in life. Josh’s last line in the chapter says it all. “Greatness isn’t for the chosen few. Greatness is for the few who choose.”
Photo by Bill Oxford on Unsplash