March 2010

It’s that time of year again—the time in which coaches of a variety of sports are looking for new jobs after finding themselves unemployed. On the whole, the United States unemployment rate was holding steady at 10 percent at the beginning of 2010. That means that 10 percent of our country’s population, including these coaches, is struggling with a range of emotions that often lead to low self-esteem and self-worth. It is very hard for people who are the family bread-winners to be out of work. Trust me, I’ve been there—eight times, to be exact.

In Ecclesiastes 3:22 (NIV), Solomon says, “…there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot.” Truly, work is a gift from God, and it was created to be a blessing for us. Thus, those times when we are out of work are extremely challenging. Not only are we prone to anxiety about finances, but we also are faced with feelings of uselessness and helplessness.

Through my own unemployment experiences, though, the Lord taught me invaluable spiritual lessons that I doubt I would have learned otherwise. One of the greatest was about what it truly means to trust Him. As I reflected on this recently, He gave me an acronym for the word “trust” that I want to share with you.

The first T stands for Truth. Do you really believe that God’s Word is true when it says that He has a great game plan for your life? (See Jeremiah 29:11.) Most people place their faith in their résumés, relationships and experiences when looking for a job. But the truth is, for followers of Jesus Christ, those things have nothing to do with those circumstances outside of His divine plan. Yes, He will use them, but they will be in accordance with His will and purpose. But in those moments when
we’re standing in the unemployment line, do we truly believe that? That’s when our faith is really put to the test.

The R stands for Rejection. When you hear those famous lines, “We’re going in a new direction,” or, “We’re going to have to let you go,” the tremendous waves of rejection can seem overwhelming. But if anybody experienced rejection at its highest level, it was Jesus Christ. During these times, it does us well to understand that even the Son of God experienced rejection. He knows what we are going through and knows how to heal our hurts in those moments.

The U stands for You. Just like people use the letter “U” in text messages, when it comes to trust, it’s on U. Only you can make the decision of whether or not you really believe in and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Have you really surrendered to Him, and are you willing to follow His lead? I’ve always said that when you make a commitment to Christ, you must be in all the way. As a coach, I always wanted 100 percent or nothing from my players. Nothing else would do. So, my
question for you is whether or not you are giving 100 percent of your life to Jesus Christ. There’s no better time to evaluate your commitment than when you are in despair.

The S stands for Supernatural. At the beginning of the year, my wife and I had a time of reflection, and we looked back on how God had intervened at different points in our lives. There was no magic number, but I counted certain life events as very significant—those in which God created specific movements to lead me on His divine path. Like when He took me from Pennsylvania to the University of Kansas where, at 19, I first heard about and accepted Christ. And when He led me into coaching—which I had no interest in doing—and, out of nowhere, gave me an interview with the University of Colorado, the one school at which I wanted to begin my coaching career. Then, the time I heard Tony Dungy’s voice say, even after we’d set seven franchise records on offense, that they were going to have to let me go. Little did I know that I would get the privilege two years later of coaching my son’s high school football team to a state championship. Yes, supernatural power intervenes in your life when you are freed up and totally surrendered to Him.

The last T is for Timing. I truly believe, as I’m sure you do because you’ve seen it in your own life, that God’s timing is perfect. We live in a microwave world in which we want things instantly and have absolutely no patience. But if we read God’s Word, we can believe that we are in a position of strength when we are waiting on the Lord.

This month, be encouraged. If you find yourself unemployed today or fear it will happen in the future, TRUST the Lord. Our times are always in God’s hands when we turn our lives over to Him. When we trust in Him, He will undoubtedly turn that last T into one of Triumph.

Model the Master,

Les Steckel
FCA President/CEO