Go to The Coach
I have always loved sports. Still do. In the sports world we learn about life! The ups, the downs, the planning, the execution, the preparation, the event, the victory—or the defeat. We try to do our best, but many times that isn’t enough. What do we do then? Give up?—or go to the coach? Every sport, especially team sports like football, has a coach. He is the person who can give you outside advice because he knows you and where you have come from and what you are and what you can be. The coach is invaluable. So, who is your “life” coach?
I grew up listening to outstanding LDS speaker Emmett Smith, a coach, tell about life lessons learned through sports. Here is one of his own stories—before he became a coach.
Brother Smith said, “I played football in high school. We were playing Amphitheater High School. The score was 7 to 6. We had the 6. Amphitheater had the 7. There were twenty-seven seconds left in the football game. We had the ball and 6 inches to go for a touchdown. Six inches! And we had four plays to score. Four plays!
You can FALL six inches in four plays, can’t you?—and score a touchdown! Not always. We tried our “goal line” plays. If you play football you know you have plays you try when you are down on the goal line. Well, we were on the goal line. We tried “12.” That’s where the “1” back went through the “2” position (football talk). Bam! We’re still six inches from the goal line. It’s now second down. So we tried “23.” That’s where the “2” back goes to the “3” position. Bam! We’re still six inches away.
Well, we have to do something. We’re now at third down. We’re going to throw what is called a “basketball pass” to me. That’s where I go over the goal line and Jim Kabashi, our quarterback, tosses it over the heads of everyone to me. I go up in the air, I’m waiting for the ball, easy catch—and the ball goes zip!—right through my hands and to the ground. The team is cracking up laughing, the other team is laughing because I should have caught the ball; it was an easy uncontested catch. There was nothing in the world keeping me from catching it. But the ball is lying on the ground now. And it’s fourth down. We’re still six inches short of our goal.
It’s fourth down and we have about nine seconds to go. We have one down left to score. I said, ‘Time out.’ And I went over to the coach. I said ‘Coach. We have tried every goal line play I know, and we can’t make a touchdown.’
He said, ‘That’s right. You have played every goal line play you know—but not every goal line play I know.’
He said look at this. And he draws it out on a board. I take it back in.
We score a touchdown!
We win the game!
I suggest when times are hard and you can’t score the goal, when you’ve done everything you know and still no success, and you’ve played every goal line play you have—call a time out! Go to the coach! He knows all the plays. That’s our Father in Heaven.
He knows ALL the plays!”
Alma 40:10
Doctrine and Covenants 88:41
1 Chronicles 28:9
Acts 15:18
Doctrine and Covenants 38:2
~Bruce Barton
