When problems come into our lives, we all respond in various ways. A “thinker” chews on the problem and looks at it from every possible angle. A “talker” seeks the wisdom and advice of others. A “doer” goes at the problem head-on and works hard to find a solution. A “reactor” has a negative emotional outburst and explodes in the midst of difficulty.

But I believe that God wants our first response to be prayer, though that isn’t often our first reaction. No matter how big or small our problems are, He wants us to present our requests to Him first. As Psalm 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”

Every year, in the early part of April, all across America the coming of spring is heralded by a festive celebration extending from Denver to Baltimore, Los Angeles to Boston, Tampa to Seattle, and especially in Cincinnati: MLB Opening Day. This day, which was just over a week ago, marks a fresh start for all Major League Baseball teams—a time when their record is 0-0 and their slate is wiped clean. It marks the beginning of a six-month season for the great American pastime, in which any team can begin a transformation from worst to first.

Those of us who watch a lot of sports programs on television have probably seen the St. Louis Cardinals’ “blanket” commercial. It begins with a man who wraps a red St. Louis Cardinals’ blanket around himself. As it turns out, the blanket is the one constant in his life as he grows up. As a child, he uses it as a cape when he runs up the steps, and he drapes it over his bed when he studies. It is on the seat when he learns to play the drums as a teenager, in the trunk when he moves out of the house, and around his girlfriend while they watch a movie. The commercial ends with the man wrapping the blanket around his child as these words come on the screen: “Without sports, what would we hold on to?”

As coaches, we spend long hours watching film--film of our practices or film of our opponent. We spend countless hours on the telephone talking to recruits or high school coaches. Our day starts before the sun comes up, and sometimes we don't get home until our children are sound asleep.

The Lord has appointed us to become coaches, and how honored we are! And now with the season nearing its end, the "silly season" begins. Yes, the silly season. When, for the next month or so, there will be many firings and hirings. Numerous coaches will be removed from their jobs or snatched up to take others, and thousands of coaches will be left wondering if they even have a job or where the next paycheck might come from.

Former Heisman trophy winner Ricky Williams pulled the plug on his football career at age 27 after only five years in the NFL. Williams failed a drug test for the third time, at which it becomes public knowledge, and he said he couldn't deal with people knowing he smokes marijuana. So he went to Australia and lived in a tent community. "In my tent, I had about 30 books. And every morning, I'd wake up at about 5 a.m., and I'd take my flashlight and read for a couple of hours," said Williams. "Everything from nutrition to Buddhism to Jesus, to try to figure out, you know, what am I? What am I? So, I just kept reading and reading. And couldn't figure out what I was. But I learned a lot."

Colin Falls of Notre Dame had his day in the limelight. Not only did he score 23 points by hitting seven 3's, but he saved the game by taking a charge in the last 20 seconds of the game. Falls understood his role for the game against Boston College and helped to knock them from the ranks of the undefeated.

Paul was one believer who knew his role with Christ. Though he could have boasted about the great things he was doing for Christ, he understood his place. He knew it was by grace that he was saved and that it wasn't anything that he did to bring glory to himself. He was honored to do his part in building God's kingdom. Paul did what it took to get God's word to the people who needed to hear the message. He knew his role.

In college, my computer teacher taught me the acronym GIGO. It stands for “Garbage In, Garbage Out.” As athletes, we know that this phrase can relate to our bodies. If we fill ourselves with junk, junk will come out in the form of poor performance.

The GIGO acronym is even more powerful when we apply it to our hearts. If we put garbage in our hearts, garbage comes out. Think about this: if a tube of toothpaste is squeezed, what comes out? Mustard? No, toothpaste comes out, because that is what was put in the tube.

I will never forget watching Reggie Miller score eight points in the last thirty-two seconds of a 1995 Eastern Conference NBA playoff game in Madison Square Garden. Miller’s “never say die” heroics in the closing seconds gave the Indiana Pacers a thrilling two-point victory over the New York Knicks. Throughout his eighteen-year career with the Pacers, Miller was the picture of persistence. He didn’t make every clutch shot he took, but he never stopped shooting them. In an interview following his final NBA game, he summed up his career by saying, “I tried. I showed up for every game and I tried.”

When I run, I really like to run through the woods as opposed to on the streets. I just like being with nature and running over and around tree roots instead of flat pavement. There was a 3.5-mile route I had learned that went around my school. I usually ran the same loop, sometimes backwards to mix it up. Every time I would run, though, I would pass another path I’d never tried that branched off into the woods. For a long time I would just run the same route, over and over again, always feeling an inner tug toward the other trail. I would always think to myself, “I like where I’m at. I know where I’m going; I’m comfortable with it. If I take that path, I could get lost. That other trail could be longer or more difficult.”

When the 2004 NBA Western Conference semifinal series between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Sacramento Kings began heating up, tempers started flaring. Kings guard Anthony Peeler hit former teammate Kevin Garnett in the face with an elbow during the third quarter of Game 6 and was immediately ejected from the game. “It was retaliation after [Garnett] hit me with an elbow,” said Peeler.

Retaliation is a natural response when we feel we have been wronged. If others hurt us, we want to hurt them back so that they know how it feels. We want them to feel the pain we feel. However, as Christians our desire is to live as Jesus did, so we must look at how He handled injustice. The Bible addresses this in several places, one of which is 1 Peter 2:21,23:

Mephibosheth had lived in Lo-debar since the death of his father, Jonathan, and his grandfather, King Saul. He desperately wanted to leave the forsaken town that was a constant reminder of his father and grandfather’s deaths. He was faced with the constant threat that the Philistines would kill him as well. As a cripple, he had trouble traveling and feared returning to Jerusalem, since it was customary for a new king to eliminate all members of the former royal family to prevent retaliation to the throne. Mephibosheth must have yearned for a better life.

As athletes, we’re likely more skilled in our sport today than when we first started playing. After we initially picked up that ball or held that hockey stick or bat, we made the choice to practice and play and to improve and grow.

As college athletes, my teammates and I chose to work on our individual skills and watch game film to improve and be prepared for upcoming games. We chose to grow every day so that we could continue to help our team be successful.