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It is that time of year once again. The time when the days start to get longer. More sunlight prevails, and it takes longer for the night to come. Spring is right around the corner, and so are spring sports. Tennis season has already arrived for our college boy, and on Monday, my season gets underway as high school spring sports start their tryouts.
As a coach getting ready to start another season, I am planning and laying groundwork for that season to be a success. It happens this way for all coaches; I certainly am not unique. This season for tennis brings many new challenges as I graduated three of my starters out of six, including my two best players who went to state last year. That can cause some challenges. But it all comes back to the foundation a coach puts in place for the season.
As I thought about this, I remembered what I had recently read in Ezra. I’m reading through the Bible on more of a three-year plan rather than one, but I am making my way through. A couple of weeks ago, I was in Ezra Chapter Three, and it was talking about the temple being rebuilt. As I read Ezra 3:11, Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid (NLT), I was struck with the absolute power of this verse.
As a coach who cares about foundations being laid, and a Christain who realizes that we are Christ’s temple now, I was blown away. The people rejoiced, shouting, praising and just being ecstatic because they realized how important the foundation of the temple was. Nothing else could happen until that base was laid, and laid correctly.
Wow, is that not just the perfect metaphor for us and our Christian walk? Can anything happen in our relationship with Jesus until the foundation of the temple – our relationship with Christ – is laid? It brought up so many feelings in me, and I saw how God has just worked and is still working to ensure that those who search for Him receive His foundation before everything else can start to build up.
It is like the popular worship song Firm Foundation says: He is our firm foundation, and He has never failed and won’t start now. Once we have that firm foundation, we can be like the Jews rebuilding the temple and jump for joy because that foundation is something to celebrate.
The problem arises when we interfere with the laying of the foundation. In Ezra, enemies came against those who tried to rebuild the temple. We certainly have an enemy who wants us to fail at laying the foundation and building up the temple. Lack of time, low priorities, the wrong voices, and so much more come against our foundation, especially early on in our walk with Him. But don’t get me wrong, at any time dynamite can be laid along the foundation with an attempt to blow a hole in it.
I know that, as an old man to some, or just a mature adult to others, I still struggle with those bombs left along my foundation. The priority of what I think is rest – really just vegging on the couch – is always a ticking time bomb I have to fight. Also, when I get so busy I can’t see straight. That lack of time might as well be a grenade launcher pointed right at the cement that holds everything in place for me.
When a hole is punched into my foundation, or even if it is just rattled, it affects the whole temple. I have to do repairs, or serious wellness checks, to get my relationship back where it belongs with Christ. You’d think I’d learn that keeping the foundation secure allows me to shout and cheer, but it seems I’m always working on repairs.
As a coach I took the time to think about the prep I make for a season. I realized that if the player or team isn’t willing to do what they have to do, those foundations won’t remain secure; honestly, they become useless. I don’t want my Heavenly coach to ever feel like the foundations He laid are useless because I’m not doing what I need to do. I’m not putting in the work daily through prayer and His Word to keep everything solid at the base.
I know I need to do a better job at keeping my foundation secure. As I head into this new tennis season and grow very busy, I am going to be working on this day in and day out. I hope you will join me. Until next time…
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