What Have You Done For Me Lately?

The College Football season has been fantastic for many reasons, with excellent matchups and surprising teams winning every week. Everyone continues to navigate the sport's changing landscape and tries to grasp how NIL and the transfer portal are truly affecting each program and conference.

While many teams are winning and succeeding this year, several marquee programs are struggling and falling short of expectations. Consequently, fans are disappointed, and administrations are frustrated by the results. 

A significant number of well-known coaches have lost their jobs as schools have opted to pay massive buyouts to move on from their former head coaches, and many more coaches are likely to be added to this list as the season winds down. Here is what has happened so far:

· LSU had enough of Brian Kelly.

· Auburn ousted Hugh Freeze.

· Penn State moved on from James Franklin. 

· UCLA let go of DeShaun Foster.

· Brent Pry is no longer at Virginia Tech.

· Mike Gundy's long tenure at Oklahoma State is over.

· Sam Pittman is out at Arkansas.

· Florida got rid of Billy Napier.

· UAB dismissed Trent Dilfer.

In many of these situations, the coaches won a lot of games and, at one point, demonstrated their greatness.

However, it doesn't take long for fans and administrators to forget all the good things the coach has done, change their attitude and perspective toward him, and start asking, "What have you done for me lately?"

As soon as a coach loses a few games or his team has a couple of down seasons, schools get impatient and are ready to look for someone new. Fans are calling for a guy's job and are looking around to replace him with someone they think will be better.

We, as fans, can be so arrogant to think we know what’s best and believe the coach doesn’t know what he’s doing anymore.

How quickly fans forget the previous big wins and the recent top recruiting classes. Even when a coach has previously led the team to great heights, fans can soon start to doubt whether they can return them to that level.

These coaches have shown what they're capable of in the past, but the fans and administrators get to a point where they no longer believe they can do what they once did.

Even when a coach promises he'll turn things around, schools stop listening and decide to go in a different direction. They focus on current struggles rather than the bigger picture and conclude they can no longer trust the coach.

It's wild how fast things change in college football, how quickly we give up on coaches, and how the sport lacks patience and forgets what coaches have done. 

Of course, we understand some of these coaches weren't the answer, and the schools are wise to move on, but the main takeaway from the latest coaching carousel is how prevalent the question "What have you done for me lately?" truly is.

The reality is that not only do we, as fans, focus on current struggles to draw conclusions in football, but we do so in our own lives as well.

The parallel is that our responses to life's challenges are similar to fans' reactions to coaches, as we experience frustration and disappointment toward God.

How easily do we forget God's goodness and faithfulness when we have a bad week or a season doesn't go as planned? When things go wrong and we face a few losses, we can quickly be filled with worry and doubt—despite knowing how God has come through for us in the past.

Instead of focusing on the bigger picture and remembering all that God has previously done for us, in the middle of a tough time, we pridefully ask, "What have You done for me lately?" Our praise vanishes quickly at the first sign of trouble. We start looking around for “replacements.”

How foolish can we be to forget who God is, how much He loves us, and what He promises us? He has given us Jesus and so much more than we deserve, yet we lose sight of this when dwelling too much on our current problems and our most recent setback. 

Other times, we are just so ungrateful, take things for granted, and expect more and more. We're just like fans who think they should be undefeated every season, and we believe we deserve for things to go exactly how we want them to.

Although in sports, fans may have good reason to doubt their school's head coach when he's letting them down and doing a horrible job, we must understand that God is holy, perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful, and worthy of our trust at all times. 

It may appear that we're "losing games" and having a rough season of life, but God is still accomplishing His purposes, will always be on the throne, and He'll work things together for our good. He always delivers on His promises!

During challenging seasons, instead of being discouraged and frustrated and asking God, "What have you done for me lately?", we must learn to be patient as we deepen our faith in Him. 

When problems arise in life, we need to cling to God's repeated faithfulness over the years and look back in remembrance of His greatness and power, as we find in Psalm 77:11-14 (NLT): 

But then I recall all You have done, O Lord; I remember Your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about Your mighty works. O God, Your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as You? You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate Your awesome power among the nations."

We must continue to remember the truth of the Scripture and the unchanging character of God, so we don't let disappointment from our current season take over and lead us to give up on God.

Thankfully, even when we have doubts and concerns, 2 Timothy 2:13 (AMP) says, "If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His Word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself."

Hebrews 10:23 (ESV) states, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." 

Psalm 33:4 (ESV) tells us, "For the Word of the Lord is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness."

Today, even if we mistakenly think God hasn't done anything for us lately, we need to simply remember the last breath we took. Nobody can replace our Almighty God, so let's stop treating Him the way we do college football coaches — impatiently, with doubt, forgetfulness, and a lack of gratitude.

Let's praise Him for all He’s done and thank Him for the blessings He continues to pour out on us, even as He leads us through the difficult seasons we face.

I’m Bryce Johnson, and you can UNPACK that!

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for everything You’ve done for me and continue to do for me. I’m grateful to know You, and please forgive me for taking You for granted and forgetting Your goodness and faithfulness. Forgive me for my pride and for doubting You. I know You are trustworthy and irreplaceable. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.