The baseball playoffs are in full swing, tonight the Angels play the Yankees in Game 1 of the ALCS. I remember when I was little, the playoffs were a HUGE deal. My buddies and I would spend the whole day talking about it and looking forward to watching the games. It didn’t matter at all what teams were playing. Seems like times have changed, but that’s probably a discussion for another day.
Although speaking of the Yankees reminds me of the young pitcher, Joba Chamberlain. Maybe you remember when Joba came up to the big leagues and Yankee management implemented the “Joba Rules”. He could only throw a certain number of pitches, or so many days in a row, etc. Obviously all teams have general guidelines for using and resting their pitchers, but this was different. These were absolute rules, not to be defied under any circumstances. We can agree or disagree with the way the Yankees carried this out, but the principle is clear. The Yankee decision makers realized that overuse was unhealthy for their prize prospect. The understood the big picture; that long-term health was never to be sacrificed in the name of short-term production. They saw the value and healing power in rest.
The NFL Players Association understands the value of rest, as its members are required to be granted one full day off each week. The NCAA requires that student-athletes’ hours of organized team activity be tracked and limited to a certain number of hours every week.
Notice that while college and pro athletes are all ordered to rest regularly, no such requirement exists for their Coaches. At least not as mandated by the NCAA or any Coaches Association that I know of.
Although, there is this:
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work…” (Exodus 20:9-10a)
Turns out that rest for Coaches is, in fact, mandated. And it’s mandated by the Creator of the Universe.
One of the greatest things about being a Coach is also one of the hardest, and it’s this. There is literally always something that can be done to make our players/teams better. The job doesn’t stop. Ever. Rod Olson’s Legacy Buidlers Sports Discipleship Series refers to these unending tasks as “unturned stones”. Maybe it’s watching the film for the 73rd time. Maybe it’s those last couple emails, texts or phone calls. Maybe it’s struggling at practice to guide our players through every possible scenario they might encounter in the game. There are certainly plenty of examples, and if you have coached for any length of time you probably know what your most common unturned stones are.
Just for the record, preparation, planning, hard work…these are very good things. However they are not worthy of being ultimate things in our lives. We are kidding ourselves if we think we can ever feel 100% completely prepared for everything. That we can leave ‘no stone unturned’. It’s just not possible, and the more we chase it, usually the more frustrated we become.
We know that we are to work hard. Very few Coaches I’ve ever met struggle with that. If they do, they don’t usually coach very long. We also know that we are to rest. Many Coaches struggle in this area. How much are we to rest? When is enough, enough? The Biblical principle of one day a week is a great place to start, but be careful of being dogmatic about it. Jesus wasn’t a fan of those who took tremendous pride in their ability to hold to the letter of God’s Law. (See Luke 13:14-16)
Paul Marshall provides insight here as he writes:
“It might be responsible to work on a job sixteen hours a day in order to meet a deadline, or to work at a job for only a few hours in order to free up time for reflection.”
Bottom line for me: I must make sure that I don’t worship my work. I must make sure my family and I have time to rest. Mostly, I must make sure that I seek God’s hand as I plan my days and weeks, trusting Him to guide me into the rhythm that will be most satisfying to Him and most useful to the people in my life.
80’s Lyric