Most of us have a favorite college team.  As we watch big games, we cheer, we clap, we high five, we catalog our favorite moments and talk about them for years to come.  Here in the great state of the Minnesota, our Big Ten collegiate team the Golden Gophers is my pick.  The Gophers football coach, P.J. Fleck is also an outstanding motivational speaker and is well-known for his Row the Boat philosophy.  It was easy to embrace this slogan as a solid never give up mantra.  However, I was recently surprised to find out that it represents much more. 

You see, college rowing teams need work together as an efficient and effective unit for them to be successful.  The team members trust the person in front of them to work at the same pace and efficiency.   The team is moving with its back towards the future.  Like the future in our lives, they do not know or see where they are headed.  The future could present rocks, stormy seas, waterfalls. They do not know.  Likewise, none of us know what lies ahead of us as we travel through life.  The future is unknown.

Similar to people on a rowing team we need to pick the right team members to help row the boat.  We need to select people who are working towards a common goal with the same intensity.  I believe I did that when I was amid a pancreas cancer diagnosis.  I picked teammates that I was confident shared the same goal as me:  100% healing and cancer free.

We rowed the boat together.  We could not see the future.  There were no scientific guarantees, but we found security in that God is in control.  He is our healer, and He knows the future.  He will provide what we need and direct our path as we seek Him.

The present is the only thing we can control.  We have choices, either we can stop trying to overcome in the battles of our lives or we can keep rowing.  This next verse talks about people plotting against Jesus to stop him.  Jesus’ enemies could not stop Him because God would not allow it during this season of His life. 

One thing I know from walking out my journey through pancreas cancer is that negative forces are not allowed to impact our lives unless God allows them.   

If the present is the only thing that we can control, what will you do?  Will you stand up and battle each day until you reach your goal, or will you put your oars in the boat and stop?  The only way we can overcome is if we keep battling with our teammates at hand. 

Below is a five minute video where  P.J. Fleck explains his “Row the boat” approach to life. Some of my text here includes direct quotes from his statements.