Last year, for the first time in 15 years, I found myself without a soccer team to coach. The Christian school where I had been teaching and coaching shut their doors, and, with the late notice of the closing, it was too late to find another team. Instead, I found myself on a different team—a team that was completely divided. I ran for State Representative in my town, and the eight candidates from my party chose to run as a team.

Throughout the election, I found myself praying to God for guidance and wisdom. I also spent a lot of time shaking my head and wondering, “What have I gotten myself into?” But through my years of sports training, I knew what teamwork was, and I knew what it was like to be a team player.

Almost every Christian coach I know wants to have a philosophy of coaching that is positive. But in the battle of competition, sometimes we get caught up in the heat of the moment and lose our focus. We may stay positive on the outside, but inside we are feeling the tension—tension that causes us to lose that positive edge.

I have found that what we tell our athletes to think about is exactly what they will think about. We may say, “Don’t ever miss a serve on game point.” What are they thinking when they come to the line? They are thinking about not missing the serve. What do they see? Missing the serve, which is exactly what we told them to think about!

As athletes we have good days and bad. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. I like winning better. Enough losses in a row and any of us can get a little down. So how do we maintain a joyful life? The Bible provides some answers. In Paul’s first letter to Thessalonica, he wrote three directives and one reason combining to show us the way to a joyful life:

Rejoice always: More than a command, this reassures us that we can find something to be joyful about in every circumstance. Lead with our will, and let our emotions follow.

Pray constantly: If taken seriously, we’d never sleep, eat, or study—probably not what he meant. Surely he meant there is never a situation in which prayer is not proper and powerful.

The University of Illinois men's basketball team appeared to be buried, facing a 15-point deficit with 4:04 left in their 2005 regional championship game against Arizona. Deron Williams started an Illinois rally with a 3-pointer, and then capped an amazing comeback with another 3-pointer to tie the game and send it into overtime. The Fighting Illini held on for a 90-89 victory propelling them to the Final Four for the first time in 16 years. "Everyone probably thought it was over," said Williams. "We kept believing."

As Christians, I think we sometimes feel like it is our job to make sure all of our friends, family members and teammates come to faith in Christ. We spend our days trying to do all we can to be a perfect example—saying the right things and serving in the best ways in order to make sure we can have the best possible influence. We think that doing things for God is what our complete focus should be.

For the majority of my time in college, I didn’t have any Christian teammates on my basketball team. Because of this, I put pressure on myself to be in the Word, to go to church and to pray enough just so that I could see all of them at least start to pursue more of God in their lives. But I eventually came to realize that wasn’t God’s aim for me. Nor, is it the aim for any of us.