I had the privilege of working with Texas high school football coach GaryGaines, best known as the former head coach of State Football Champion Odessa Permian High School as spotlighted in both the book and movie, Friday Night Lights. Gary would often muse, “Coaching would be the perfect profession if only it did not involve the massive highs of winning or the bottomless depths that come about from losing. The extremes are too huge.”

Winning is a drug that many coaches will seek, desire, and sacrifice all they have in order to attain it. Winning usually doesn’t cause major problems. However, lose a game and the booster club wants to know why. Lose several games, and the townspeople begin to question the program. Continue to lose and U-Haul becomes a coach’s best friend! On top of the pressures from the outside come the turmoil and stress that we in a product-driven society must endure. Soon, it becomes difficult to function in our daily lives and we feel “dried up.” No matter what we try, no matter how many hours we put in or how creatively we set up game plans, nothing works. Our hope is gone; we become isolated, cut off, and desperate.

If we know the Lord, we know that we are not alone in our struggles. God is listening. He is waiting and eager to hear from you. We are not cut off, but rather hooked into a direct resource of valuable information. If our lives are given to God’s direction, then the balance will automatically follow. Unfortunately, our society places huge expectations on those of us in the coaching trenches. Everyone supports you when you win. Our gracious Lord supports us—win, lose or tie. Up or down, He is always there.