Post-Mortem on World Cup 2006

The FIFA World Cup 2006 recently concluded with a bang(head-bang actually), some fizzle and lots of passion. Curiously, this world cup will not be remembered for its winner - Italy, for that matter - but for the high drama that ensued in the final match.

Why oh why Mr Zidane?

That, though would not be the crux of this posting.
I choose to remember the World Cup 2006 for other aspects.

This World Cup was famous for the Coaches and Referees. There were some really good ones while others were just incorrigible. I choose to focus on the Coaches.

Coaches play an important role in gelling the team together. Without them, what you get are individuals, all eager to prove their own ability, without any concern for the team.
When a coach makes the right tactical decisions at the appropriate time, something fabulous may just occur.
When a coach is a good leader, he gets the whole team together, to lay aside their differences, and just for that magical moment, scale the heights of glory together as one formidable alliance.

The Good:
Germany sent the nation into a frenzy at No. 3,
France retained some glory at No. 2,
Australia dazzled our eyes in the knock-off stages,
Ghana did well to leave a memory of their determination.

The Bad:
England boasted, made empty promises, and played boring football,
Spain & Argentina looked promising until some bewildering tactical decisions,
Brazil was a shadow of its fomer self.

What went wrong for the losers? England et al were filled to the brim with promising players, rambunctious and eager to prove their youth. What proved their downfall however, were the gaffes in coaching tactics.

What went right for the winners? Germany was focussed and believed in reviving the nation's glory, Australia never said 'die', France proved their detractors wrong and showed that age and experience are essential, Ghana never showed their arrogance and remained humble to their roots. Above all, they had fantastic coaches.
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What are your reflections on the posting so far? My main point is this:

We the chosen race of God, have Jesus our Lord as our coach.
He is our coach for life, He is our coach for death.
"For this is God, Our God forever and ever; He will be our guide, Even to death" -Psalm 48:14

I, like all individuals, am often eager to prove my worth. Sometimes I forget that God is my guide, my coach. I've made wrong decisions, I've turned my ears away from Him, I've sinned against Him.

But each time I read this verse, I stand in awe of His promise and wonder.
He knows we are weak. But He never stops being our coach.
Even when we've lost the battles in the qualifying stages, He is still our guide.
Even when the Church is weak and without faithful prayers, He is the patient Groom who awaits the perfecting of His imperfect bride.

Often times, each of us has thought of himself better than others. But this is not to be so in God's church. We are a team. We need to gel together and never say 'die'.
With each passing day that we age, it brings experience that tells us we can only rely on God. When we've qualified for the world stage, we need to remain humble to our roots, lest we become proud and fall.
We are all members of His Body, and there "should be no schism in the body, but that the members have the same care for one another" - 1 Cor 12:25

Jesus is infallible. Our God is immutable. His can never make coaching gaffes like the human ones do. He has shown Himself to be the the truest guide and Commander to Ancient Israel, He will do the same for His spiritual army today.
One day we will all sing this song together, like Joshua did: "You have seen all that the LORD your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the LORD your God is He who fought for you." - Joshua 23:3

We all need Jesus as our guide, our coach.
Heed His counsel.