By Michael A. Milton
Now this is what we are to expect. Fourth quarters of life do come. But that leads us to a second point in the Game Plan from this passage:
Just as a coach and his staff will put this team today through conditioning exercises, we too must be conditioned and prepared for the trials of life that come to us.
Paul shows us two ways to condition ourselves, two exercises in faith, which will stand us in good stead for the tough times of our lives:
1. Know your strength
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For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. — 2 Corinthians 4:6
Paul was saying that the God who created the light of the universe is the God who put the light of Christ in our hearts. In other words, Paul was strengthening himself in the truth of God's glory for the fight of life. Paul knew that if his faith was all about his own works, his own decisions, his own strength, he could not make it through the game. The truth is that God Almighty called him on that road to Damascus. The truth is that God Almighty made him an Apostle of Jesus Christ; he did not take that honor himself.
And my beloved, let us be conditioned by the truth that God alone is the One who saves us, who keeps us, who guides us, and thus God alone is worthy of glory. Know your position before you enter the field. You are not the coach. You are not the trainer. You are the player. It is God who is in control. This is His game, not yours. He will see you through.
2. Trust in the source of your strength
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. — 2 Corinthians 4:7
Oh what a verse! "We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us." Again, Paul is trusting in God's power. He is just an earthen vessel. As He says in Romans chapter nine, we are just clay, but God is the potter.
When I was a teenager, my coach was Coach Davis. I think I have mentioned him before. He was also my high School Sunday school teacher. He was known by the fact that he had been an Ole Miss offensive lineman and he chewed Red Man tobacco in his sleep. Every one of us dreaded August football training because he used to make us run sprints after every practice. He would increase the number of sprints as the days got closer to the first game day. One time, a number of my fellow players asked me, as the quarterback, to approach Coach Davis and try to appeal to his humanity and ask him to back off a bit on those sprints. I did. I should have had better sense. He pulled me within inches of his sweaty, ugly, but very sweet, face and told me, "Son, you tell those boys to get used to it cuz' this is life!"