Influencers Weekly Devotional

Abide with ME

Abiding Physically - Part Six

Look Beyond the Pain to the Benefit

SCRIPTURE: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11 THOUGHT: God’s child will be disciplined by Him. It is part of the discipleship process, and it is His method for creating a man after His own heart. There are two promises mentioned in this passage. First is that God’s discipline is painful. Second is that His discipline leads to the peaceful fruit of righteousness. What is not mentioned, but implied, is that God’s discipline is for a limited period of time, and when He sees the man He has been forming emerge, the purpose for the discipline is complete. APPLICATION: When I entered college in 1963, I was one of about 70 football scholarship athletes hitting the field for the first time. We were all good high-school football players or else we wouldn’t have been invited to join that level of competition. Colleges back then gave a lot of scholarships if they could afford it. Therefore, there was great competition for a position. Ole Miss could afford it, for they had a very successful program at the time. But they were not into giving a free ride to players who didn’t help the program. Therefore, the first year was extremely hard for us, as they could determine who those players were. By the time “2-a-days” were over two weeks from the start of the season, the number of players was down to about 50. After the season was over and my class returned for our sophomore year, only about 30 players showed up. So, it is apparent that something happened during the first 12 months that sifted the less than committed players out of the program. The process also served another function, as it cemented a team together that would be able play successfully in the SEC Conference. What was it that made it so hard, but also helped create a successful program? Maybe the question is “Who was it?” Let me introduce to you the hardest, and yet best coach I have ever known ------ Coach Wobble Davidson. Coach Wobble was one of several college coaches who returned from WWII with something to prove. He was a Marine, having gone through his own killer boot camp in preparation for invading islands occupied by Japanese soldiers. While on duty, he watched his best friend die in combat. It was there he decided that if he returned from these deathly battles, he would dedicate his life to helping young men become men who were prepared for life. This was his lifetime dedication, in memory of his best friend. Little did we know at the time we joined Ole Miss’s program, this man and his discipline would be the first thing we would face. Little did we know our freshman year would prove to be the hardest challenge mentally, physically and emotionally we would have our entire football career. Little did we realize at the time the killer practices and intimidating methods used were his method for breaking down arrogant high-school athletes, and then, rebuilding us into men who were ready for our varsity years. Ask any player who played during the 25 years Coach Wobble coached at Ole Miss, who they thought was the one coach who did the most for the program, and they would all say it was Coach Wobble. Ironically, when we played for him, we feared him and wanted to stay out of his sight. But when our football careers were over and we graduated to become businessmen, coaches, fathers and citizens, we grew to love him. We grew to understand what he did for us was more about life than football, and we were all better prepared for life because of the discipline of this man. Coach Wobble was far from perfect, and his discipline missed its mark on many men. Even so, it taught us how right discipline produces something good. This insight has also been an essential building block for me in understanding how God’s discipline produces good, and although it is hard when it is going on, it is perfect for the man He is training. I have discovered that coaching a championship player requires that repetitive fundamentals be practiced until they become second nature to him. This is where it is hardest, for these practices are repetitive, boring, painful and without the glamour of game day. Motivation during this period can be found only one way, and that is for the player to look beyond the pain and discomfort of the drills to the reason he is there in the first place. Even though 90% of football is made up of practices and preparation, there is no question that game day is what it is all about. Player and coach alike are in agreement with this objective. Likewise is the discipline of the Lord. God’s discipline is also about transformation and preparation. He is preparing us for the game of life. He is preparing us to be able to suit up and take the field for Him. To be properly prepared, He must do things in our life that make our identity with Him a natural expression. Like the drills football players go through to create fast reactions to certain game day challenges, so it is with the drills God puts us through. A coach is looking for a transformation from a high-school player to one who can play at the next level. God is also looking for transformation. I remember many days when Coach Wobble’s drills didn’t seem to end, especially with full speed blocking and the defense reaction to it. As a defensive end during that phase on my career, his drills included a series of blockers coming at me quickly one after the other, with me trying to stand firm and shuck them off. Hour after hour of this painful exercise created fast reactions and muscle memory. A year later when I played in my first varsity game, I was put in the game for a series of defensive plays. Being a light defensive end, I was tested quickly. We call it “student body right,” as the pulling guard came at me first, followed by the fullback leading the tailback carrying the ball. With the snap of the ball I crossed the scrimmage line and took a braced position. The pulling guard, weighing about 50 pounds more than me, was first. I got low and braced, creating the leverage needed to stand him up. With a strong forearm under his chin I was able to break away from him and shuffle to my left where I then met the fullback coming at me full speed. Again I braced and got my shoulder pads under his, followed by a forearm to his chest. With him out of the way, I was lined up with the ball carrier and drove through him to make the tackle. All of this occurred within a few seconds. There was no thinking about it. It was all reaction, and the skill to do it was not acquired in this ball game. Rather, it was hammered into me in those grueling practices a year before, when no fans watched or applauded. It was on a dirty practice field where a great coach did his job to prepare me to play football at the next level and where I was prepared to face the challenges. So it is with God’s coaching of His man. God also teaches us fundamentals in the same way a coach does and for the same reasons. There will be many times that we do not have time to think. We can only react to a challenge. God coaches us to help us know how to react. We have to brace ourselves and stand firm against the enemy, for God knows he will be coming at us, and He wants us to know how to react to it. When we do face that onslaught, we find that we can indeed face the challenge, for we have been transformed, and we know for Who we play. When we stand firm against an onslaught of challenges as I did with the blockers, we discover abilities we have been given through God’s training. He has trained us to react with the weapons of spiritual warfare, as we react with prayer, with faith, and with God’s word. God drills a man in such a way that these reactions become natural. That is what good coaching does. It creates transformation, and God’s purpose is to transform us to men after His own heart. This is why God’s discipline always works for good, for what He produces in us is the fruit of righteousness, which is a right-standing relationship with Him. This is the man who takes the field and wins the prize. So, let God prepare you. Desire it. Seek it. Cry out for it, and God will make of you that man who stands when all others falter. REPLY: Father, I realize that sometimes I forget that I am still an unfinished process unfolding before You. I tend to think I am who I am, and that doesn’t change. But I then remember that You are never satisfied with my incompleteness, and Your love compels You to disciple me into a better man. It is Your love that disciplines me. Help me never to forget this. Help me to always remember that as long as I have life on this world I have need for change and need for greater likeness to You. Most of all Lord, help me remember that You have a plan and purpose for all you do, even those things that seem difficult for me. I know I will rejoice in Your work and will eventually agree with Your process. Therefore I submit myself to Your discipline, and ask You to prepare me for what lies ahead. It is to Your glory I ask these things, Rocky TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS DEVOTIONAL, CLICK HERE