During my 32 years as a coach, I loved what the fresh start of a new season meant as the slate was wiped clean from the previous year. It was refreshing to begin anew with each member of the organization locking arms, united in one common goal: win a championship.
On one of the more successful teams I was a part of, we carried the motto, “Expect To Win.” We were a very talented team, sure, but I truly believe that mindset of expecting to win each week—coupled with our game-planning, preparation and effort—helped us take the leap from being good to great. Yes, we still faced our share of adversity along the way. Injuries, personnel changes and even some losses are a part of almost any football season. But it was amazing to see how our high expectations—paired with a confident mental mindset—produced remarkable results.
Now that I’ve been away from the game for a while, I get that same feeling of newness and anticipation with each new year. For 2015, we can wipe last year’s slate clean and look forward, with high expectations, to what the next 365 days will hold.
Our team was aware, as we all are, that unexpected challenges, setbacks and frustrations will come our way. But I’m confident with Christ as our Savior and Lord that we can approach this year with the mindset that no matter what we face, God is going before us and will never let us down. Through Him, we can all have a mindset of “Expect To Win,” just like that team.
It says in Proverbs 21:31, “A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory comes from the LORD.” Victory comes from the Lord. I really believe that!
As I look through the pages of Proverbs in my Bible, they’re marked with notes about all kinds of situations in my life where God was speaking to me, leading me through different moments in His perfect timing. My prayer log, which I’ve kept since 1985, is no different. Looking back at the notes I’ve written in those pages brings me so much peace to see how I may have felt defeated, but Christ knew His plan of victory was waiting to be revealed. Those pages are a constant reminder of how God has worked in my life in the past, and they give me confidence knowing the future is in good hands because of His faithfulness.
Hard times happen in this life. I don’t want to downplay your challenges, but the stress that comes with them can be like a gravitational pull that brings us downward and inward, trying to figure out life on our own.
As believers in Christ, we should always be looking upward to Him and then inward to see and recognize the Holy Spirit living inside of us, ready to go outward as a shining light for Him.
We should be encouraged by what Romans 8:28 says: “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.” Be confident that Christ has never departed nor forsaken us. He is always with us. Just like my Bible and prayer log prove, by reflecting on our past, we can always see how God intervenes in His perfect timing.
As you approach this new year, know that it will be full of promise and, yes, difficulty. But remember that while so many people work hard for victory, we as Christians are working from victory—the victory our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ won for us on the cross years ago that continues to impact the world in each and every year we begin.
Model the Master,
Les Steckel
FCA President/CEO
–This article appears in the January/February 2015 issue of FCA Magazine. To view the issue in its entirety digitally, click here: Jan/Feb 2015 FCA Mag Digital
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