Two Minute Drills from Coach Joe Gibbs

[Judy Harder]

Work Slowdown

We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to achieve and succeed. And if we're not careful, the pursuit of one more sale, one more percentage point, or one more dollar sign can utterly consume our lives. If it doesn't, we know they can find someone else who will.

This makes the following statement from the Bible a brave one: "Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody" (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). It's a call to hard work, yes, but also to the pursuit of work's greater goal—a "quiet life."

This is not the same as a lazy life, one with never a care or concern. A quiet life is one of perspective and balance. Business, labor, and career will always have certain seasons that call for an extra ummph of exertion. Not every day will be "quiet," and we shouldn't expect it to be. Still, a quiet life should remain our general "ambition"—our overall normal—so that when work expectations are keeping our lives noisy and chaotic week after month after year, courage and conviction will call us to make some changes. Our lifestyle becomes our lifetime quicker than we know it. And quiet only comes to those who seek it.

Pray this prayer: I need your help, God, to understand what this means for me. I don't want to do anything rash, but I do want to be in your will. I want to experience life the way you intend it to be.

[Judy Harder]

Breakfast of Champions

Every year when NFL training camp rolls around, there are guys who come in hungry and fired up, fresh from an off-season workout regimen that has gotten them in playing shape right from the get-go. But every team also has players who show up fat and flabby, twenty pounds over their goal weight, gasping for breath at the first sight of wind sprints. Failure to stick to a plan has cost them the stamina they need to get started on the right foot. They may be able to fool some people with their athletic looks and muscular bodies. But NFL coaches can tell when a guy's been dogging it since January.

You're probably not a professional ball player, but the same principle still applies to you. The concept Jesus taught that "no good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit" (Luke 6:43) has a universal draw on every man. Steady doses of unhealthy choices and activities will bear themselves out in the way we feel, the way we think, the way we stand up to stressful situations. If we're not willing to make sacrifices and faithful habits a regular part of our day, fatigue will not only become a way of life, it will become a belt size everyone else can see better than we can.

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored in his heart" (Luke 6:45). The same goes for stomachs and large muscle groups, too.

Pray this prayer: Lord, make me a man who doesn't have to fake who he is—not in health, not in work ethic, not in family life, not in anything. Help me see that who I become is the result of what I invest.

[Judy Harder]

Death to Fear

We're all pretty different. Different tastes in restaurants. Different sizes of televisions. Different favorite places to go on vacation. But one thing that's common to every man on earth is this: we're all on a collision course with death. Except for those living among the blessed generation who will still be filling out their dress shirts when Jesus comes back, no one's getting out of here alive.

And some people have a hard time living with that.

Think of how this one particular slice of reality hangs over your head on any given day. Think of how hard you fight to keep yourself looking young and age-defiant. Think of the medical scenarios that run through your head when you feel a new twinge or body ache, when an unexpected pain catches in your chest or side. Think of what happens when you realize it could have just as easily been you killed in the bridge collapse or tornado damage reported on the news tonight.

But Jesus, the Bible says, has died in our place "so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death" (Hebrews 2:15). Yes, death is a heavy subject to ponder. But it doesn't have to hold us in slavery or overwhelm us in fear. Because of Jesus, we not only live forever. We can live free right now.

Pray this prayer: God, I don't like to think about going through the suffering and separation of death. But I pray you'll help me live in the confidence of heaven, so that I can keep from being afraid of dying.

[Judy Harder]

Ups and Downs

The medal stand. The winner's circle. The trophy presentation ceremony, followed at noon the next day by an open-convertible parade down Main Street. The sports world knows how to tell who's been successful at accomplishing what they set out to do. You can spot the champion by the title he holds.

But God doesn't work that way. Titles, ranking, and position are not his barometers of success for us, nor should they be of ours. Just because a man seems to be winning doesn't mean he's done the best job or is the most deserving of praise. Just because a man appears to be losing doesn't mean he's failed at a critical moment or has choked under pressure. God has his own reasons for letting some taste the rewards of success and letting others continue to battle from beneath the pile.

"It is God who judges: he brings one down, he exalts another" (Psalm 75:7). He may allow a man to earn a promotion, not because he's by far the most qualified, but because this person has a weakness for power that needs exposing and correcting. God may allow a man to be overlooked at work, not because this guy doesn't possess what it takes to advance, but to make him better prepared for a greater opportunity down the line.

With God, the possibilities are always endless. Don't make him have to play our game in order to win your trust.

Pray this prayer: Lord, I get confused sometimes and start judging things by this world's playbook, not by yours. Help me to accept the fact that you know what you're doing, much better than I do.

[Judy Harder]

The Ultimate Rescue

There are few symbols of bravery more compelling than that of New York City's first responders streaming into Towers One and Two on this cloudless day in 2001. If not for those squadrons of emergency crews, heavy with rescue gear, bounding up ring after ring of suffocating stairwells, the tragedy that claimed thousands of human lives could have easily killed tens of thousands.

We can hardly fathom such extreme levels of heroism. We don't quite know how to express our awe and gratitude toward those who risk their lives—every day, just as on this one horrific day—to save others.

But even with their daring sense of courage and self-sacrifice, even with hours of rescue training and contingency planning, these modern-day heroes are not able to save everyone. There are limits to what they can do. Time runs out. Gravity outweighs them.

How much awe and praise, then, should go to the Lord Jesus Christ, who's never encountered a life he couldn't save? No matter how black the sin or how impossible the situation, no matter how late the hour or how heavy the damage, he is able to snatch men from life's ultimate danger zone, saving them from eternal death.

"For my Father's will," he said, "is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40). Everyone. That means you. Wherever you are, your rescuer is here.

Pray this prayer: Lord Jesus, I'm trapped in my sins with no way out. I've tried every escape there is, and none of them work. I'm calling out to you today as my last resort. I'm so sorry for what I've done. I'm so sure now that you're the Son of God. I need you. Please help me.

[Judy Harder]

Always and Never

Very few things in life are "always" and "never." Your wife doesn't always tell you how to drive. Your pastor isn't always asking for money. It's not like your kids never do a thing you say. But when it comes to God, there are some always and nevers you can take to the bank.

He is "always at his work" (John 5:17), never dozing off or growing tired of meeting your needs. He is "always righteous" (Jeremiah 12:1), never changing to accommodate the times. Jesus "always lives" to pray for you (Hebrews 7:25), to continually insure that your sins are forgiven, if you've trusted Him for salvation. He is a rock of refuge to which you can "always go" (Psalm 71:3).

He will "never stop doing good" to you (Jeremiah 32:40), always supplying you with all you really need. He tells us not to worry about money or the future, because He has promised, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). His years "will never end" (Hebrews 1:12). He has "set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed" (Daniel 2:44). "Heaven and earth will pass away," Jesus said, "but my words will never pass away" (Luke 21:33).

Life may seem a tangled mess of empty words and broken promises. But when your trust is in God, you're on the most solid footing of all. Blessed is the man who "always fears the Lord" (Proverbs 28:14).

Pray this prayer: Lord, I always want to be your man, even though I miss the mark in many ways. I know with you, though, that you will always be my God, forever and ever.

[Judy Harder]

All-Weather Blessings

These are tough economic times all around. The same rules and assumptions that used to be part of the wall paint of life don't seem to apply any more. Housing values don't just automatically go up. The next stop on the Dow Jones index may not be a thousand more, perhaps a thousand less. Dividends that used to pay like clockwork may now be calculated at pennies on the share, if at all.

So when we open our Bibles and read, "Blessed is he who has regard for the weak," the poor, the helpless (Psalm 41:1), our minds almost immediately begin thinking up disqualifiers. Sure, if we had the money. Sure, if milk and gasoline weren't so expensive. Sure, if our 401(k) was still promising us an ample retirement.

But the Bible's principles for sound money management are not dependent on the ebbs and flows of the stock market. Just because prices are up and wages are down, biblical truth is not temporarily suspended. Lean years don't exempt us from pursuing God's way of doing things. In fact, it's in times like these—when real need is a lot closer to your front door than it may have seemed in days past—that the blessing of giving is actually the greatest. Your generous, sacrificial acts of service and care in Christ's name have more potential for touching hearts now than they ever did. You can take that to the bank.

Pray this prayer: Father, I get worried sometimes about where our financial picture is heading. But you have called us to be much more concerned for people than money. Help me to always keep this in mind.

[Judy Harder]

Sin Exchange

The battle against sexual lust is sort of in a class by itself for most men. Other allures and temptations may buzz around us, but few if any can stir up this kind of struggle, shame, and enslavement. It can make us want things that seem irresistible. Yet in turning away, we find things that are irreplaceable.

Pure living, for example, means exchanging deception for truth, darkness for light—the freedom to uncomplicate our lives with the worry of being found out, to avoid the awkward moment when we think someone has noticed our up-and-down glance.

We exchange a heart that judges by appearances for one that values the worth of every individual. We get to know people without filtering our acceptance of them through the grid of their good looks, enjoying the honesty of being kind to everyone we meet.

We exchange self-gratification for the pursuit of service, transforming our inner thirst for adventure into profitable use. Rather than thinking of ways to feed our misplaced desire, we become equally as passionate about thinking of ways to bless our wives and family.

"Each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God" (1 Thessalonians 4:4-5) . . . who do not know that something much better exists for those walk in purity.

Pray this prayer: Father, I'm sick and tired of being consumed by thoughts of other women. I pray for a pure heart, a healed heart, a will that totally releases this impossible struggle into your strong hands.

[Judy Harder]

The Enemy Within

Dr. Larimore, writing in Game Plan for Life, talks about the "Four Wheels of Health"—physical, emotional, relational, spiritual. A fully healthy person is one who is consistently, continually achieving balance in each of these areas. If any of the four loses air or goes flat, the whole thing begins to weave and wobble.

But here's the deal. While it makes so much sense to hear him tell it, there is a big part of us that resists being healthy. Just knowing the value of green, leafy vegetables and cardiovascular exercise doesn't ensure we'll go after them. Just being aware that honesty and openness are essential to becoming authentic people is not enough to make us live it out. "Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning" (Psalm 64:6). We cannot trust even ourselves to look out for our own best interests.

That's why it is so important that our lives be centered and grounded in God. He alone is rock-steady in a world that can't help but feel uncertain, as well as in hearts that can't always seem to follow what our heads are telling them. "If we are faithless, he will remain faithful" (2 Timothy 2:13). He is our one-and-only hope of being and staying as healthy as we want to be.

Pray this prayer: Lord God, you've found me out. I'm inconsistent at best and self-destructive at worst.  I truly desire to be a whole and healthy man, but I realize that I can't do it without you. Please help me.

[Judy Harder]

A Promising Future

There are many hundreds of methods out there for maximizing your potential in life, in business, in all kinds of areas. Some are sound, some are not, some are absolutely wonderful (like Game Plan for Life, of course). But even the best can't help but be incomplete in spots. And none of us are able to follow them perfectly, even then.

So while we are wise to gather information and set our goals, to make our plans and chart our progress, we will meet days when not everything comes together. We will encounter challenges that weren't covered in the literature. We will feel the need to make adjustments and wonder why we hadn't noticed this sooner.

But that's okay—because our trust is not in methods and strategies. Though we are certainly responsible for how we handle ourselves, we are not in total charge of where our future is headed. It is no cop-out, after listening and learning and being diligent to pursue best practices, to say, "I cry out to God Most High, who fulfills his purpose for me" (Psalms 57:2).

Any success plan that isn't submitted to God is destined for failure. Any man who thinks he can make it on his own hunches will find out otherwise, the hard way. But when we trust God to do his work in us, he can take even our missteps and turn them into positive gain. He will fulfill his purpose for you.

Pray this prayer: Lord, I worry too much. I push myself hard, but it still leaves so much that seems undone. I need to rest in the knowledge that you are more than capable of accomplishing your will in me.