The Hill

reprinted from 4/17/14

He personally carried our sins 

in his body on the cross

so that we can be dead to sin

and live for what is right.

By His wounds

you are healed.

1 Peter 2:24

After coaching over 20 years in various sports, at different levels, I have not experienced what I have experienced with my team in the last week.  This story is not about me, it is about something much greater.  It is so much bigger than me and it is a clear example of the power of God.  If it is in His will, things can happen for the greater.  

Our team had been struggling through their first three games and bringing their record to 0-3.  Kids were skipping the weightroom and then making excuses to get out of conditioning for missing the weight room.  Kids were late for practice and skipping practice with no reason at all.  When approached about doing conditioning to make up for practices, they were quick to point figures or make excuses about not attending.

I started to question what I could do to turn it around.  I was at wits end and frustrated.  I went to Good Friday service and then it dawned on me during Easter Sunday service.  Jesus suffered and sacrificed so that we may be freed.  All of our past transgressions were removed from us and we could live without bearing the weight of those sins.

So Monday came and we were going to take batting practice before we left for our game.  I arrived at the school about 1/2 hour early.  Rather than going in the school right away, I walked to the hill that led to our baseball field.  This is no small hill and is used by our football team as a means for conditioning.  I stood at the bottom of the hill and looked up intimidated at the mere presence of the hill.  You see, I am no small man and knew this was not going to be easy.  But step by step, I ran up and down that hill for twenty minutes.  As you can imagine, it was a difficult task and attempted to conquer me.  But I felt a strength come over me.  With each time I ran up that hill, something was lifted off of me and it became easier.

When I had completed running, I went into the school and proceeded to finish batting practice.  After we concluded with BP, I gathered the varsity players around me.  We talked about all of the things holding us back.  The finger-pointing, the missed practices, the late arrivals, etc.  I then told the players that they have all been forgotten and we are moving forward.  I told the players that for the twenty minutes prior to batting practice I was running conditioning for them.  I beared their sufferings so they could be freed.  I coach at a public school so this kind of message isn't always the easiest to discuss.  I told them that over the weekend, it came to me that I needed to do something.  I needed to suffer for my team.  Because it being in a public school, I told them that if they wanted the specifics of what I had learned over the weekend that I would share on an individual basis.  At first, many of the boys looked confused.  Then you could see a couple figure out that the past weekend had been Easter and made the correlation.

The Medford Varsity team went on to win their next three games.  Still a mid-point of the season, this team has learned and matured already quite a bit.  We are hoping that this continues.

But this story really isn't about the Medford Tigers.  It is not about me, the overweight coach that suffered to prove a point to his players.  This story is about the love and the power that God has.  Jesus suffered something much more than what I suffered for my team.  Jesus suffered so that we all may live free of sin.  He paid the debts for his team, all of us.  God chose to free all of us through Jesus' suffering.  The power of God is so much bigger than any of us could imagine.  Through His example, I would never have been able to suffer for the likes of my team.  It was His example that guides me.