A Knowledgable Coach

I’ve wanted to write this series for a while, but always had trouble really putting my thoughts into words. And it doesn’t quite help that the Bible doesn’t really talk about coaching anywhere. However, it does have a lot to say about learning and growing, and if we are going to learn and grow then we need a teacher or a coach to help guide and direct us.

Most of the inspiration for this series comes from the fact that I have been coaching gymnastics for the past seven and a half years, with some breaks in there for, you know, giving birth, and figuring out how to be a mom. I’ve learned some incredible things from my gymnasts about trust, learning, and the importance of showing up. I’ve grown as a person, and in my own faith as I’ve seen that just as I coach and instruct others, God is coaching and instructing me.

In my own experience, in order for an athlete of any sport to grow and be successful, they need a knowledgeable coach. A coach that knows the athlete, the sport and its rules, and how to strengthen the athlete’s weaknesses and take full advantage of their strengths. In gymnastics especially, there is a special bond that can develop between the coach and the student. There aren’t many sports where a kid will have the same coach for five, ten, or fifteen years. This relationship is built on grace, love, and the commitment to become something better than we already are. It becomes infused with trust and hope.

There are requirements for both the athlete and coach in this relationship. The requirements of the athlete will be covered in the next post, in this post I want to study more about the coach. As I mentioned before, the coach must be knowledgeable, and be able to use this knowledge to the benefit of the athlete. Though we talk about “teams” in gymnastics, truly it is an individual sport, and as a coach, I must know my gymnasts. I must know how to communicate with them so they understand what I want them to do and work on. I must be able to see past the mess ups, the mistakes, the falls, the injuries, and the frustration to what can and will be in time. I must know their weaknesses and struggles, and how to help them through these and strengthen them. I must know the rules of the sport; the values of skills, and how they connect with other skills. I must know each routine and be willing to take the time to scrutinize every aspect of their performance so that they can score higher. I must know how to push the gymnast beyond what she believed was possible so she can glimpse the glory of the future.

It’s a lot of work. There is a lot of time spent outside the gym planning and thinking through what needs to be done. But if I think I am working hard to help my gymnasts, then I have to believe that God is working even harder to bring me into the perfect righteousness that Christ covers me with. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber (Psalm 121:3). God is always working behind the scenes to give us the experiences that will strengthen our faith, and shape our hearts.

I’ve made my mistakes coaching. I haven’t always been understanding or taken the time to know my gymnasts. Sometimes I pushed them in the wrong direction, sometimes they got hurt on my watch, and sometimes I couldn’t get past the mistakes. But this series is not about how we mess up as humans, it’s about how God doesn’t mess up, and is the best coach we will ever have and know. Psalm 139: 1-4 and 13-16 show that He knows us inside and out:

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.

God knows us perfectly because He created us! He is familiar with all my ways. He knows where I am going to try and cut corners and that maybe I only did forty five pushups instead of fifty. He knows when I am going to agree and do the work that He has set before me to make me a better version of myself, and when I am going to argue with Him over it. He knows my limitations because He chose them for me. He knew I would struggle with everything I struggle with because all the days ordained for me were written in your book. These struggles and limitations are not imperfections because God has created me exactly as He wanted me to be. He knows me perfectly: all my strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and how to motivate me to work on what He wants me to do.

God is perfectly qualified to coach me because of His great knowledge of me, and because He created the world we live in. He planned out the “rules” for salvation and sanctification long, long ago, and is committed to seeing me through them. Paul tells us, “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through…The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24).” God is committed to coaching me through this life so that I will be sanctified and live into the righteousness of Christ which already covers me and cleanses me of sin.

When I have a gymnast learning a new skill, there are so many things that go into it: the takeoff, the landing, and their form, arm and leg placement. When they do it better than they have before, I congratulate them, but also point out that they still need to work on various components to reach the expected standard. I don’t just say, “That’s good enough for you,” I call them to go higher, to dig deeper, and to become stronger, so they can execute the skill flawlessly. God isn’t going to just let me get away with what is “good enough” for me, He calls me to a higher standard and pushes me beyond what I believe I am capable of so that I can see His dedication to me and His strength and power displayed in me.

Our coach is there to encourage us, and bring out the best in us. Sometimes training is hard, and going the extra mile just sucks. Sometimes the coach pushes us to exhaustion because the coach knows that our hearts, minds, and bodies, will be tougher and stronger the next time around. That’s the funny thing with our bodies. We have to push ourselves to weakness in order to be stronger. When we walk through pain, it doesn’t mean our coach is our enemy, it means our coach is putting us through training that will make us not just physically stronger, but spiritually stronger. Horatio Spafford penned the wonderful hymn, It is Well with my Soul, as he traveled to meet his grieving wife after losing his four daughters in a shipwreck. Before this, he had been financially ruined in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire and following recession. Spafford definitely walked through hard places. He was brought to his knees in weakness and grief again and again, but it all proved to be the hard training of a masterful coach who later drew this confession out of him:

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like seas billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Our heavenly Father, our great coach, is training us to see Him in all aspects of life and to trust His power and sovereignty. He is training us to be His servants, and sanctifying us for His heavenly purposes. He is by our side, and will be by our side at all times throughout our lives.  Amen and Amen!