He had accepted his dream job as the head football coach in a highly successful school. He had always been successful. He won lots of games and championships in his first few years of coaching and now had just completed his first two losing seasons. He was hearing boos from the public, and his wife could barely take the unending criticism flooding from the stands about her husband.

He came home every day dejected and often without enough energy to relate to his family. On many occasions he just went to his room to be by himself. It wasn’t until the day he read Lamentations and saw how Jeremiah dealt with his depression that he came to understand God’s view of success. He knows that coaches can become consumed by winning and focus on the outcome rather than the process.

He finally realized that God had blessed him with an incredible opportunity to teach and coach young men. He was given this opportunity to glorify him on a daily basis doing what God had wired him to do. He also came to understand that God wants him to have faith and seek him with his whole heart as he prepares his athletes for competition.

He began to seek God daily, count his blessings as a coach and put his hope in Him. “The Lord is my portion” really took new meaning in his life. It was no longer winning or losing that defined him as a person. If we win or lose doing our best to glorify Him, our value to God is the same regardless of our record. He is not concerned with our wins or losses. He is concerned with our heart.