LESSON 7: ROUTINE

Ready

“Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you” (Proverbs 4:25).

Set

My favorite scene from the movie Hoosiers is when the small-town team travels to Indianapolis for the state finals. They’ve never played in a large arena, and they are in awe of the size of the building. Coach Norman Dale gets out a tape measure and shows them that the court’s dimensions are the same as their small hometown gym.

Nick Saban uses a similar analogy. He once pulled out a 2x4 plank and asked the players if they could walk across it easily if he put it on the ground. The players nodded in agreement. He then asked the players if they could walk across it if it were suspended across two high platforms at the top of their stadium. The nods were much less enthusiastic.

The difference? It’s hard to keep our focus amid distractions and dangers.

Coach Dale and Coach Saban were attempting to explain similar principles to their teams. We have to approach every practice and every game the exact same. We have to rely on our routine and doing small things right, rather than simply assuming we can will ourselves to victory by some magical request of a genie. Results themselves aren’t controllable. We can’t will ourselves to success and wins. We can, though, put ourselves in a position for success with a routine.

“Trusting the process” is what many coaches call this. The process is the daily routine of doing things the right way, whether in practice or games, without regard to the outcome. Most all of us have heard “trust the process.”

But did you know that trusting the process is biblical?

In 1 Samuel 16, Samuel is sent by God to find a new king to replace Saul. Saul was the warrior, the king the people wanted, but David was the one committed to God.

In verse 7, God says, “The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Proverbs 4:25: “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.”

Hebrews 12:1–2: “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, ...”

The message of all these verses is similar: focus on God, not results. Do as we’re called to do, without regard to the outcome.

In other words, trust the process.

Go

1. In 1 Samuel 16, we’re told God’s ways are different than the world’s. How are we tempted to follow the world’s ways instead of God’s ways on the field?
2. In Proverbs 4:25, where are our eyes to look? How does this help us in preparing on the field?
3. In Hebrews 12:1–2, how do we get endurance even when we’re tired or tempted to be distracted? How does looking to Jesus help us with this?