Who is the Real Enemy?
When you Coach for a living, your focus is on the enemy at all times. You spend hours of every day studying the enemy and preparing your team so that you are able to overcome him in the day of battle.
Trying to come up with the perfect strategy and possible in game adjustments consumes your mind as you count down to the moment you live for. For much of my life, I was convinced that defeating the enemy was what I was made for.
Truth is, I was right!
The only issue, I was focused on the wrong enemy. As a result, the enemy was looking me straight in the eyes. He was in the mirror. I lived and died with every win or loss on the scoreboard. My health, my image, my pride, my fame, my joy and my life was all sitting on my throne.
Win totals, championship rings, headlines, record books, more money, job advancement and everything else on the world’s top 25 list of success was posted on my bed post and every morning I woke up with the goal of crossing one accomplishment off the list.
How much of me could I pour in? What was I willing to sacrifice in order to achieve this list? What would it feel like when I finally reached the top of each mountain? What would it sound like to be called a champion? What would it feel like to roll around in that green grass on the other side of the fence? If I would have only been born on the other side of the tracks and had a silver spoon in my hand, then maybe I would not have to work as hard and sacrifice so much to reach this destination!
In my last game, I coached against one of the best men of God in the business. Coach Treyon Burks from York College. That man loves some Jesus and has devoted his life to saving souls. Our teams battled with all they had against each other. I don’t allow myself to build up hate for my opponent like I used to do because not only are they not my enemy, many of my opponents are my brothers in Christ. Do I want to beat them on the scoreboard? Absolutely!
I would like to tell you the moment Everything Changed!
Was it my 300th win as a head college basketball coach? When I put on my first championship ring? Was it when I finally became a junior high, high school, or college basketball coach? Was it 2009 when we went an entire calendar year without losing a single game breaking the record book with 39 consecutive wins?
Sadly, not a single one of these accomplishments truly changed anything that mattered. I continued to wake up every morning with the enemy staring me straight in the eyes. His same lies would echo in my ears.
You have to win more, earn more, you are nothing but a….
On this week of Thanksgiving I stop to Thank my King!
- Thank you Lord for shattering my old mirror!
- Thank you God for helping me see with the eyes of my heart instead of my fleshly eyes.
- Thank You Father for drowning out the outside voices so I could hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and You telling me who I Really Am.
- These Thank You’s will go on all week…
The world has not given me anything of true value, so the world can’t take it away. My Value, My Confidence, My Joy, My Success, My Everything rest and ride in Jesus! The Author and Finisher of my faith!
So who is the real enemy? They call him satan and he has infected us with sin. We fight him every day. He is the pride, lust, greed, envy, and human nature that is our flesh. Paul tells us to die daily to it. He robs us of our joy and our confidence by deceiving and lying to us about who we really are and where are strength and joy truly come from.
I wish I could tell you that the battle is an easy one once you see the truth, but I would be telling you a lie. By putting all your faith and trust in Jesus Christ of Nazareth and walking daily in step with the Holy Spirit our Guide and Helper we can finish our race as champions one day. We can win this battle against the flesh and be more than an Overcomer through Christ Jesus our Savior. By choosing this path, the battle will likely increase and get tougher. Few take this path for that very reason. Choosing Christ is still well worth battle.
Yes, Jesus already won the battle and as a result we are victorious through the Cross and His Blood. All we have to do is choose to see Jesus in the mirror everyday and follow Him. Let the world see Him when they see you. The power of daily choice is the most powerful weapon and weakness that God has given us. It will ultimately decide our future and destiny.
There is nothing like the peace and joy when your confidence rest in a relationship with Jesus instead of trying to please the world. That includes trying to please your family, friends, or trying to please the person in the mirror. You will never completely satisfy the crowd, so focus on pleasing your Savior. His love never fails!
Photo by Andre Mouton on Unsplash