Solid as a Rock

Hebrews 10 encourages us to draw near to God, to hold on to Him no matter what might be going on in our lives:
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,

There is a story that God is writing in your life - He has a plan and purpose for us, and He is teaching us along the way.   There may be milestones that we can look back upon and say, hmm, perhaps God was protecting me or preserving me - that turning point in my life propelled me to a greater level of commitment or service to Him.   Or, you think, if I had made a different choice, things may have not turned out the same.   I do think it's helpful to us to acknowledge God's guiding hand, and His faithfulness to us, even when we miss His promptings and head in a direction that is not in accordance with His will for our lives - He will help us get on course and stay on course, and He provides some of those landmark moments along the way.

Galatians chapter 6 talks about the power of, as we might say, "hainging in there":
(7b)...whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

As a 5-year old kid, Jim's mother took their family to the neighborhood swimming pool.   Even though the children said they'd stay in the shallow end, Jim decided to be a bit adventurous and go to the deep end.  The problem was - he couldn't swim!  As he descended a slide into the pool, he entered the water and went down - down - down.

As Sports Spectrum magazine tells it, a kid jumped off a 25-foot high dive and his feet, miraculously touched the floor of the pool in between Jim's legs.  Jim grabbed the diver's trunks, and then, he was swimming on his back with Jim resting on his chest above the water — gagging uncontrollably and coughing up water out of his lungs.


After he placed Jim on the side of the pool, that's the last he ever saw of him.   On the way home, Jim, still shaken by the experience, looked at his mother. “I almost died today,” he said.

“I know,” she replied. “But the Lord protected you. He’ll watch over you because I’ve been praying for you.”

His mom's belief in the power of prayer was a great example to him.  Prayer has helped to sustain Jim throughout his life and his career.   He says:  “I know prayer is needed in my profession...My prayer life is what keeps me in balance. It doesn’t let me get out of wack. It’s about solitude and being on your knees.”

Jim went into the coaching field - he attracted the attention of a man named Tony Dungy, served as his assistant in two cities, and then when Coach Dungy retired, he replaced him as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts.   After leading the Colts to the Super Bowl, where they lost to New Orleans.  But, without Peyton Manning, Coach Jim Caldwell was, well, less-than-successful.    After a 2-14 season, Caldwell was fired.

But, that's not the end of the story - and a failure should never be the end of our respective stories.   Caldwell went on to work again - as a quarterbacks coach in the NFL.   He labored in that position throughout the 2012 season, until...his head coach decided to fire the team's offensive coordinator during the final month of the regular season.   The team lost 4 out of its last 5 regular season games and had little promise of advancing in the playoffs, even with Caldwell running the offense.   Jim Caldwell, deposed Super Bowl head coach, relegated to a lower-level coaching position, helped to lead the Baltimore Ravens to an improbable run through the AFC playoffs to a Super Bowl victory.  The quarterback he coached throughout the season:  Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco.

This story is chock full of lessons for us.   Jim Caldwell has a proven track record in reliance on prayer, and I am positive that was a huge factor for him over the past year or so.   He continued to do his work diligently, even though he was laboring in relative obscurity.  And, even when our lives might resemble a string of losses, we still have to trust in the faithfulness of God - don't give up, He has a plan for our lives!