That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2nd Corinthians 12:10
During the long and hot summer months of a coach’s life, we are often faced with young men who decide, for various reasons, to no longer play football. It has become so regular for me lately that I hardly listen to the excuse. I do try to find out the underlying reason for a young man’s decision and often try to change his mind, although their minds have already decided before our conversation. I remind them that at some point in their life they will be a 50 year old man and will look back over their full life and recount every decision. One of these decisions will be the one they are making while sitting in my office. They may be able to convince others that the coaches did not like them or they were being mistreated, but they will not be able to convince themselves. They will always wonder why they could not withstand the difficulty. After all, that is what makes football and life thrilling. Sure, an easy day with little to worry about is needed by many of us but we remember the difficult days and hard decisions because we either learned something about ourselves or proved something to ourselves.
Most of the young men who decide to stop playing football say things like, “I am going to concentrate on another sport or academics”. Some say they simply do not enjoy the game and want to spend their time on other activities. Some stop playing because they have met the “Love of their life”, and hope to spend every moment outside of the classroom with her. All coaches know that when it comes to coaches vs. girlfriends, the girls are undefeated. A coach has never won out over a pretty girl!
One particular young man dropped by my office a few days ago and asked if I had a few minutes to talk. I told him yes and we moved into my office to talk. I knew what the conversation would be about but asked him what he needed. He went on to tell me that he had decided to quit football. I encouraged him to think very carefully about the decision he was making and ran through my normal speech about the experiences and opportunities he would be missing over the next few years of his life. It did not seem to have any impact so I asked the young man, “Why?” I had never heard his answer before although I know it is the real reason for most young men quitting football. He said, “It’s just too hard”. I talked to him about how so many people in this world quit one thing and then it becomes very easy to quit the next difficult thing in life. People often get excited about a new activity, don’t experience immediate success, and quit just before the best part begins. Quitting becomes easy and before we know it we have lived a life of quitting during difficult moments. And we miss the opportunity to find out what we are made of and how our Heavenly Father will give us the strength to continue. I felt like I was giving a great argument but I could tell by the look on his face that he was not buying it and had already made his decision.
I am afraid his statement of, “It’s just too hard”, says much more about his personality than it does about the game of football. I believe we have found ourselves as part of a society that not only accepts quitting but continues to make it easy to quit. I pray I am wrong about this, but I am afraid that young men and women who quit because a sport is too hard will also quit in more important moments of life. What if the young girl who was the love of his life becomes hard to love? Will he quit on her? What if after the excitement of having a child wears off and the difficult moments of parenting come along, will he quit on being a father? What if he gives his life to our Heavenly Father, but it becomes too hard to live as a follower of Christ? Will he quit on his relationship with his Savior?
One of my favorite quotes comes from a speech given by President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy stood before a huge crowd on September 12th of 1962 and spoke about our nation’s goal of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth. He spoke about the people who question this goal by asking, “Why the moon when it would be much easier to reach other goals?” President Kennedy goes on to say, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade, not because it is easy, but because it is hard”.
Our Heavenly Father knows our lives will be full of difficult moments and days when we feel as though it is, “Just too hard”. He also promises to give us the strength to continue because He wants us to find out what comes at the end. The end of a playing career when we are thankful we did not quit and, most important, the end of a life lived for our Savior and an eternity spent with Him. I wish I could have convinced this young man to continue working through the hard days and trusting God to give him the strength every moment.
Chad
