University of Kentucky head baseball coach Nick Mingione said he reached a point when he surrendered everything to God and shared how doing that changed everything.
Professional and collegiate athletics is a serious business. Big money, sky-high expectations and a lot of pressure are involved in sports at that level. Often, entire livelihoods rest on a single win or loss, which can be determined by one play here or there. An error there or failure to make the correct play here could cost a coach and his entire staff their jobs. That kind of pressure and level of expectation can result in frustration and anger. Coaches and players can get angry and upset when they don’t reach what they think is their full potential. However, when his 2022 team failed to achieve what he believed they were capable of, Nick admits that he had some dark days.
However, in a clip posted on YouTube, Nick, with his wife and young child by his side, said that he did one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do. Understanding that his abilities were finite and limited, he surrendered everything to God.
“We went on this great run,” Nick said. “We were one win short. We were one win short. We finished fourth in the SEC Tournament for the first time. It was the best finish, but we were one win short.”
During that season, Nick lost two players to injury for the year. He said that he “had some dark nights earlier in that season.” He admitted that he was “hurting like he’s never hurt before” and “was a beat down coach.”
Nick, who played Phil Wickham’s “Battle Belongs” on his phone during the press conference, told the media that he surrendered everything and told the Lord that the “battle belongs to you.”
Nick surrendered all to the Lord on May 15, 2022. From that day forward, Nick said no one has won more regular season baseball games in the SEC than the University of Kentucky.
“You can’t make this up,” Nick said. “Only God can make this up.”
Nick’s comments about experiencing adversity and surrendering to the Lord came after the University of Kentucky baseball team made it to the College World Series. It is the first in the school’s history.
God will do amazing things in the lives of His people. But we must allow Him the opportunity to do so by surrendering everything to Him.
James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
This content originally appeared on GodTube.com; used with permission.
Photo Credit: ©YouTube/Cats Coverage
Originally published Thursday, 13 June 2024.
