Scattered throughout the 30,000-odd days of a typical lifetime are make-or-break moments that dramatically change us. For politicians, athletes, and entertainers, these defining moments play out for millions to watch—a great catch at the Super Bowl, a poor choice of words in a key speech, a goof while interviewing with Oprah.

(Jon Warren/World Vision)

We ordinary people have these defining moments, too (mercifully untelevised). One of mine was a phone call from a recruiter 13 years ago, inviting me to consider a job with World Vision. The question he asked was unwelcome and uncomfortable, but it had the ring of truth: “Rich, are you willing to be open to God’s will in your life?”

It was really God’s question, and He was asking me to choose what kind of disciple I wanted to be. Help change the world!—an exciting offer. But it came with a catch; I had to be willing to be used, and I had to pay the price that comes with service. World change isn’t easy and it isn’t cheap. For me it meant giving up a lucrative job and a dream home and giving in to the world’s suffering.

Looking back on a defining moment can make you feel regretful or grateful, depending on the outcome. When you’re able to make the right decision, though, it’s because of a thousand smaller decisions you make every day—for athletes, the hours and hours of practice; for believers, daily time with God and His Word, prayer, church attendance, and other good choices.

Ultimately that phone call significantly changed me, my family, my faith, and my relationship with God. And it gave me the privilege of caring for the world’s poorest children.  

What’s your defining moment? Are you in one now, struggling with what to do? Look for God in the question or crisis and be open to where He is taking you. And remember that it’s being faithful in the small ways every day that equips you for the big decisions.

This is the week I am scheduled to become a grandfather. So far, the child has not chosen to make his appearance. As a CEO of a large organization, I’m used to feeling some degree of control over what’s happening—and this is one thing I can’t control.

Then again, one of the bittersweet joys of working for a child-focused organization is occasionally having your world turned upside down by a little child. It happened to me just 60 days into my job here, as I encountered Richard, a boy orphaned by AIDS in Uganda. The global AIDS pandemic became starkly real and personal to me, and I was never the same. It happened again a few years later in India, which I visited after a major earthquake, when a desperate mother held up her badly injured child in front of me. Suddenly it struck me that was he not just “somebody else’s child;” in God’s eyes, all children are His, and He asks us to feel the same way. Every child in need I’ve met since—in quake-ravaged Haiti, water-scarce Ethiopia, deeply poor Bolivia—has affected me in this personal way.

As a father, I’ve found that you’re only as well as your least-well child, and it’s certainly true this week, as I worry about my expectant daughter. Now multiply that several million times, and you understand what drives us at World Vision. The world is full of unwell children. It keeps us busy even while it breaks our hearts.

Please pray with me for children around the world without the advantages my grandchild already has. Pray for World Vision workers and scores of other Christians who seek health, well-being, and fullness of life for these children. Never let us forget that these precious boys and girls are God’s—and ours.

The Super Bowl, coming up this weekend, is the one sports event that everybody watches, even if football isn’t your thing. Many people only watch for the clever commercials. Me, I’m interested to see good coaching on display.

Being a leader often means being a coach. You set the vision and strategy for the team, but you stay on the sidelines. And that can be hard, because you know how to play. Maybe you were the star quarterback once. But now, as the coach, you can’t go out onto the field, take the ball from the quarterback, put him on the bench, and say, “I’m going to run the next play.” You’ve got to mentor players and impart all of your knowledge the best you can. You recognize their gifts and help shape them. And then when the game starts, you can be there for a word of encouragement or strategy, but the ball’s out of your hands.

Centuries before football, Jesus modeled the best kind of coaching. I can’t think of a more visionary leader than the Lord. He invested in His team and allowed them to make mistakes, even to fail. He equipped them for the ultimate goal—to go into all the earth and make disciples of all the nations. Two thousands years later, there are 2 billion Christians. I’d call that a victory.

How has God called you to be a coach, either at work or in your community or family? What have you learned? How do Jesus’ teachings and the Holy Spirit’s leading help you?

By the way, did you know that Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the Green Bay Packers, is a man with a strong Christian faith? See this article from Athletes in Action.