Coaching

I can't help but apply my natural experiences to spiritual lessons that God is teaching me at the moment.  I happen to be an assistant wrestling coach at a local high school and I enjoy teaching the young men how to wrestle, and more importantly, how to learn and react to their instruction.  Sometimes as I encourage a young man to respond with the right attitude, or to apply himself to learning proper technique and work ethic, I can't help but hear my instruction echoing in my ears and mind. 
A disiplined sport like wrestling can mirror our spiritual lives so much, it really amazes me!  You know that with my Christian walk, God has chosen that my "practice" should be with Him as my coach encouraging me to continue to listen and learn from His instruction.  My takedowns and pinning combinations come in the form of reading my Bible and devoted prayer and communion with my Coach.  My opponents are the demons that I face from day to day, that will try to steal, kill, and destroy my life and family, and my team is not of this world, and we happen to have a great Coach. 
Tonight as I was coaching I was explaining to the young men that wrestling is not always just being violent and physical, or having the best technique...but it is about breaking your opponents will to continue to fight against you.  It is about defeating them in your mind and in within your "heart".  God was echoing my own words in my mind and showing me that in my Christian walk, I must learn to decide within myself that I will not quit and I will break the will of my opponents through Christ.  Much like a wrestler must learn to have faith in his mind and will to defeat his opponent, a Christian must have faith in his God(who is within him), to defeat his opponent.  It is easy to quit when things get hard, but I teach my wrestlers that in that moment when your will wants to break is exactly when we must maintain perfect position and technique.  A moment out of position will result in getting taken down, or maybe even pinned.  When I have found myself out of position with God I have been taken down by the struggles of my life, thoughts or addictions that I have once overcome. 
I guess what God is working on me with is the fact that a coach can be and should be a great thing for an athlete, and so much more for a Christian.  In the gospel of John 1:1-5, 14 says:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  In Him was life, and the darkness did not comprehend it.  14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 
This chapter of scripture is really cool to me, first of all it declares the deity of Christ, which is beautiful to me, but also it says that Christ is the Word and what I believe to be the Word of God, the Bible. 
To explain further, I believe for my life God is showing me that Christ, the Word, is my coach.  Now there are many benefits to a coach, but I believe probably the most valuable is their perspective on where you are at in whatever you are trying to accomplish.  When I coach wrestling I am able to clearly see when a wrestler is out of position, even when that wrestler is not able to feel or see himself out of position.  When a wrestler will trust their coach, they will correct their performance or practice based on the coaches input and instruction. 
In Timothy 3:16-17 it says:
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 
Applying myself to the Coaching of Jesus, and being that He is, in my faith, the Word of God revealed to me.  I meditate on His coaching through His word.  It is a blessing to be able to look at our lives through the mirror of God's Word and see maybe my shortcomings or my folly, it is a blessing to be corrected and instructed by the perfect Coach, Jesus Christ!  I am so thankful and happy to be directed by the Word of God, I hope to continue in my disipline of learning to always seek Him through His Word and Prayer.