The Wrestler

When I was in high school I was on the wrestling team. I made the varsity team as a freshman and boy, did that help my self esteem. Seniors were saying hi to a lowly freshman. What a rush!
Anyway, my wrestling coach was a great guy we called Coach Ailts. I always knew that Coach liked me, but beyond that I knew he thought I had great potential.


Now you need to know that I often lacked motivation during practices. I was a meet wrestler, meaning that I could do well during the actual meets where it really mattered, but not so well during practices. Not that practices aren't important, I just wasn't convinced of that at the time.


Well, needless to say, Coach Ailts had to push me quite a bit. I'm convinced that he even told the assistant coach to watch me during warmup exercises. I remember him standing over me to make sure I was doing them right. But again, it didn't bother me because I knew it was good for me and because Coach really thought I could go far, as a wrestler and as a person.


One year, I went to the District tournaments, won there and went on the Regional tournaments. Because wrestlers quit coming to practice if they didn't move on in the tournaments, our practice squad got a little small. So at times I had to wrestle Coach Ailts.


I'm not sure how big Coach really was, but to me, weighing about 100 pounds, he was very big and very strong. For sure Coach could have annihilated me in about 10 seconds. He never did though. You see, Coach would put just enough pressure on me to help me learn the right moves and grow more adept in my wrestling ability. He wasn't there to crush me, he was there to help me get better.


I tell this story with the hope that you will see God the same way as I saw my coach. What He allows into our lives is not meant to destroy us but to help us grow more like Christ. 'Cause, like Coach, God really likes you and thinks you have great potential.

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