Coaching Football's "Little Things"

The report goes like this: in 1943, air raid sirens sounded over London. Nazi bombers were coming again. People raced for the underground air raid shelters to escape the blasts. One such air raid shelter was the Bethnal Green Underground station. Five hundred people has already taken shelter there while another fifteen hundred were attempting to join them. A woman carrying a baby lost her footing on one of the steps leading down to the shelter. Like dominoes, people began falling in front of the woman… stacking up bodies as they bounced down the stairs. In the end, almost 200 people lost their lives… not from bombs, but fear!

I sense that today there’s a stampede of fear surrounding us. If you’re not careful, you’ll get caught up in it just like those Brits in World War II. It’s ok to recognize danger, but God doesn’t want you to be overwhelmed by it. So what do we need to do? We need to monitor what we listen to, think about and what we say.

Jesus’s disciples needed a rock to stand on in the coming storm that Jesus had just described to them. He had told them how bad things were going to get in the world. He was going to die soon and they would be persecuted and suffer for their beliefs. Jesus told them that He was leaving them, but He would not leave them alone! He would send His Holy Spirit to be with them… and us! In the Gospel of John, chapter 16, Jesus says: “I have told you all of this so that you may have peace in Me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart! Because, I have overcome the world.”

No matter what the situation or circumstance you might be facing right now, Jesus has it under control! No matter what trial you have to deal with, Jesus will bring you through it! Though we might be paralyzed by fear and be surrounded by others who are fearful too, you will have His peace. And that stabilizing peace will strengthen you and even cause others to turn to you for answers. “Take courage! Don’t be afraid… for I am with you,” says the Lord.