There are movie characters that resonate with us deeply to our core. Think about it for a little while and I bet you know what I mean. There is a movie character for me as well that I hold deeply in my heart---funny his name in the movie is Coach Grant Taylor--the same as my son. The movie is Facing the Giants.
In the movie, the many struggles and challenges in Coach Grant Taylor's life come to a boiling point--career, personal, family and spiritual. It is then that God has his attention and he is at rock bottom. God begins to speak to Coach one situation at a time. It is then that Coach is willing to trust one small part of his life....then another....incredible things begin to happen.
Coach Grant Taylor begins to speak to the young men he coaches about life, faith, honor and trusting God. Together they embark on a journey of turning their football season over to God and ultimately it changes their lives as they all learn to trust God. As Coach trusts more he is free to speak with more conviction. Some things keep happening...are they coincidence? NO-- God is making sure Coach can walk baby steps...building him up from the rock bottom to the point where he is looking back on where God has brought him on his journey...through deep valleys and up to the mountain top. God wants him to realize he is with him through everything and he likes challenging odds. He challenges him to use his Coach's Voice.
In the end it is the challenge of FEAR vs. FAITH that I always have come back to.
I have been through some very deep valleys and He is still beside me. I often wondered back when times were supposedly "really good" when job was great, money plentiful and church family all around with activities abounding. The good times---well, they really were not the good times.
In the valley? That's where ALL of the growing occurs. When I was at rock bottom I had conversations with people who expressed their trust and faith in God...it was astounding to me because these folks had absolutely no reason to believe....no reason to trust God that I could see with my limited vision...yet--they were calling to me to trust Him, believe and don't give up. They were so steadfast, it made me ashamed that I was the believer who had so much....and had been a believer for so long. Why didn't I believe God would see me through?
For me, living in middle class America...worshiping at church with other middle-upper middle class believers, we really don't have a clue about what struggles are going on out there. We don't understand what hardship is, and we are ill equipped to help anyone else when something hits hard. I was rocked to the core.
For me, it meant being real with myself and my family first. Then it meant being honest with my co-workers -giving my best and walking those baby steps and trusting the results to God. It meant being honest and doing the things I was supposed to do no matter who was watching or not watching. Now I have to tell you...when you act this way, people will take their shots at you. It is hard to trust God for the results. Somedays it is hard to find hope. I had more than one promotion or position promised to me and I could have been very, very bitter about being sabotaged by the very people promising to protect and promote me.
The old me would have been done with everyone...given up on people being decent, that hard work pays off...because it all depended on me back then. That takes very broad shoulders to hold that weight up. I can say that...I felt it, all too long.
I could probably go a million ways from here with this and may tell some more stories in the future and holding on. All I can tell you for certain is that when the miracle doesn't happen, when the sorrow is deep...when you think you can't go on one more day, He is with you. Did you hear me? He is with you and you can make it...you can take one more step.
Really that's all God wants from us..not robots spouting verses, but real people that cry out that they have their doubts, fears.....He wants us to take one more step. Many times that is ALL I could do. You know what? Other people were watching...friendships came from places I never expected and true friendship and encouragement was born in the desert. It wasn't sometimes anything poetic or burning that I actually said...sometimes it was just a love for my family and not being willing to Quit...and simply taking the next step.
If we are honest--in our struggles and challenges in life--That is where our Fear and Faith collide.
God has given me a gift of another chance at managing a team of people, and He is teaching me to keep my eyes open. In the past I have been great at cranking out work but a terrible failure at managing others. He has turned my life around and given me an incredible gift of encouraging and coaching others. It's so unbelievable that I had a moment after going through monthly meetings one-on-one with each of my staff. It was a moment where I had encouraged each of them in different areas to be their focus. My toughest challenging employee had just done a complete 180 and participated in a meeting in a valuable contributing way. In the past he probably would have made me angry and I would have written him off. Today--he got a morale pick me up. The feeling in my gut was so cool that I know it was what I was meant to do, and I can see the road how God brought me here. The things I bring are just what is needed here. If I hadn't traveled the road through the valley, I would not be able to do this right.
If I were to have received that Costco promotion that was promised...or that Krystal promotion that was promised on time.....who knows what my life would be now. It would have been better that what it was at the time...but it would not be the incredible opportunity I have now to speak into people's lives every day.
Battling through the Fear was something He wanted me to do and until I did that...life was just going to be safe and Okay...but never INCREDIBLE. It's not the money, power, or prestige....it's doing what you were designed to do that is fulfilling and leaving the results to Him.
All my life I have openly criticized God for how he designed me and never really could figure it out...it made me angry and impatient.
Today, I finally was happy about how He made me......
He gave me my coach's voice
Thank you
