The Sharks are genuinely frustrating me at the moment!! What a mess they seem to be in!
I know that they are short on some world class players, but there are still enough players in the side that should be able to provide that spark to provide a winning platform. This downward spiral began towards the end of Jake White’s tenure as coach and has just never been curbed despite the change in coaching personnel and some players too. Even our classy imported players like Joe Pietersen and Michael Claassens are unable to reverse the cycle and are somehow being sucked into this vortex themselves. I hope Paul Jordaan, now back from injury, manages to avoid this spin cycle. Willie Le Roux arrives next year and I hope that both he and Jordaan will be able to help change the fortunes of the Sharks. Hopefully they will instil some self-belief back into the team, encourage a playing style that plays to the strengths of the players and a winning culture.
Do they have that type of influence though? Can it be done? What must be done? Is there a single answer or do The Sharks need to introduce a 5 year plan overhauling their franchise systems, including their administrative and coaching staff and talent and recruiting policies before they will see any sustainable change?
When it comes to your destiny, the purpose God has called you too, does it represent a little bit of the Sharks present set of circumstances? Does your picture also look somewhat impossible to reverse or change? Are you wondering what you have to do to get your life, your destiny on track? Are you asking the same questions for your life that we asking of The Sharks right now? It seems no matter how hard you try, the result remains the same – frustration, difficulty, continual setbacks and what seems to be inevitable failure.
One of the first questions we have to ask of The Sharks players is; “Are you playing to the Coaches game plan?” This question applies equally to us. Are we playing to our “Coach’s” game plan for our lives? Yes, you love the Lord and may even have a good idea what your destiny/dream is but that does not mean you living out your life God’s way. Are you fulfilling your God given dream your way or God’s? Give some thought to David trying to return the Ark of God to Jerusalem and the anger he felt when everything turned into a mess when God struck down Uzzah for trying to stabilise the ark when the oxen stumbled. He was angry and couldn’t understand why God wasn’t pleased with the best efforts of himself and Uzzah. On closer inspection of the scriptures you quickly realise David was transporting the Ark back to Jerusalem his way and not the way God ever intended the ark to be transported. Whose strategy for your life are you living out?
Secondly, is the coach playing to the strengths of his players or is he still following a pattern of play that suited players with a different skill set from two years ago? Have you established what your strengths are yet? If so are you developing those strengths and minimising game time in your weaknesses? Does your dream match your skills set, your strengths, or are you stubbornly ignoring your unique Godly design to achieve a shadow mission that appeals to your own selfish ambitions or expectations of an aging parent?
What seems to be a glaring flaw in the Sharks game at the moment is the inability to run straight lines when it is needed. They seem to drift across the field minimising space on the wings and neutralising any opportunity of breaking the opposition line. Couple that with the inability to handle the ball past 5 phases without a handling error and you can see why every movement is doomed to fail. What habitual sin is keeping you from running straight lines for God? Where are you constantly dropping the ball for God? What keeps distracting you, preventing you from seeing through what God has called you to do? Remember the wise counsel of Paul in Galatians “Whatsoever you sow, so shall you reap”. What bad habits, traits do you need to address immediately in your walk with God, towards your destiny to avoid reaping a mess?
Lastly, does the union need a clean out, from top to bottom through all administrative and coaching levels? Have you got strongholds in your life that may be destructive? Maybe you need a good clean out? Have you considered speaking to other men who have a deliverance ministry who can help you be set free from bondage and strongholds bedevilling your best efforts, through the work of Christ on the cross?
So what do the Sharks have to do? What do you have to do? Whatever it is, stop delaying hoping that it will come right on its own somehow, that if you just keep pressing on it will change. Learn the lessons in the messy time and make good, right decisions to get your life and destiny back on track with God. Simply hanging around with good Godly men and hoping that something of them will rub off on you is not enough – you have to address the issues!! Pietersen, Claassens, Jordaan and Le Roux will not change the fortunes of the Sharks just by playing for them – the issues must be dealt with.
Are you prepared to invest the next “5 years” of your life to better position yourself for God?
Go for it men, our Father is counting on you!!
Advancing His Kingdom with you,
Gavin Janssens