A Game of Inches - Pt 2

And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” (1 Samuel 17:33-36 ESV).

The first principle to employ in our lives is the acceptance that none of our experiences in life are insignificant. Small choices now can lead to highlight moments later. In the coaching ranks, ESPN and other networks will often televise the introduction of a new head coach in the college ranks or NFL. This moment is not possible without the roles that prepared the coach to be a head coach, like the hours as a low paid graduate assistant or living behind the scenes as a special team’s coordinator. Jimbo Fisher is no exception to this truth. His first ten years as a coach were spent in various roles, though none of them were considered “high profile.” It takes small steps of obedience to be prepared. It can be as simple as memorizing one verse and being prepared to share it in the moment. Many small acts of obedience lead to the highlight moments. Small acts of obedience lead to the highlight reel moments. Look at the reading again. The writer says, “But David said to Saul, ‘[I have] been keeping [my] father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.’” (vv. 34-35). David used opportunities as a shepherd, a low-level job, to prepare himself for bigger moments, like when he faced Goliath in battle. He knew God had equipped him to do things that were not normal. David didn’t know the battle with Goliath was in his future, but he focused on being excellent where he was day by day. We need to recognize the importance of every circumstance we encounter each day. So many people merely coast through their lives with no intensity. We lose our passion in the mundane. However, it is these common things that are practiced everyday that prepare us for the critical moments of life that seem to determine the success or failure of a particular event. Do everything you do with the same passion as if everything depended on it!