Football and Life Lessons

Do you ever feel like you are "on the verge" of change, or am I the only one? Change by way of career, relationships, finances, home, personality or spirit? Some changes are obvious, tangible, "understandable." Others? Not so much!


If you've read my last few posts, you may have learned a few things about me. I love to read...especially when reading material "challenges" me. I don't consider myself a "know-it-all" kind of person, although there may be a few people out there who would disagree! As a teen, I loved Debate class. I can still hear Mr. Dean "calling me out" a few times with his, "Now Miss Brooks, there is no room for sarcasm" speech. Sarcastic...YES. "Wise?"...far from it! And so I read. To challenge myself, and to further my knowledge on life...and Scripture.


In reading this past week I have discovered two things. Make that three.

#1: I will never be able to read the 23rd Psalm the same way again.

#2: I have acquired a strong liking for the disciple Peter.

#3: 2 Chronicles 20...well, it rocks!

In life, I have discovered a few things as well.

#1: It is awkward when you hear a band rehearsing in the sanctuary of your church, singing Lita Ford's "Kiss Me Deadly." True story...

But...as a single mom I am often caught between the roles of "mother and father." For example, the "mom"side of me wanted to avoid football practices these first few weeks because I knew it would be tough on Nick, and no mom enjoys seeing their child struggle. The "dad" side of me caught myself sternly explaining to my son that he needs to "toughen up" and "deal with it," that football isn't an easy sport and I even questioned him as to whether or not he felt like quitting already.

I also found myself somewhere in the middle. Most of you know that Nick was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy over this past year. There are moments he has pain in his leg and the start of football has been tough.

And I don't ever want my son to use his diagnosis as an "excuse." But without directly expressing that concern to him I used a different approach. I decided to tell him that I was proud of him, because football is such an aggressive sport. That the conditioning he was going through was going to be tough but it is only temporary. And when it's all said and done it is going to be good for him physically and mentally. Football is going to teach him strength, endurance, and discipline. Unfortunately, he is not going to understand any of that until the season is over. Right now, he wants to skip practices and go straight into the game!

Can't the same be said about life?

Think about it. Every day is like "practice." We wake up and begin going through the drills. There are days when we avoid the defensive line. There are days when we can see the defense headed straight for us. And yet on other days, we can be so focused on one thing that we get blind-sided by a player we didn't see coming. And so we get knocked down, the wind knocked out of us. And we get beat up and bruised. And we wonder why we have to go through adversity in order to "develop" our skills. And we wonder when things are going to become easier. Why do we have to go through the brutal agony of "practice?" Why can't we jump directly into the "game?"

And like football, we have a Head Coach. He's the One who knows just how important it is for us to go through the practice in order to be prepared for the game. As a player, we walk away from His instructions, sometimes complaining and mumbling under our breath. And there may even be some instances in which we may get into an arguing match with Him. (He usually wins, by the way!) We may not understand why He chooses us to play certain positions or the plays that He calls, but we must be obedient in following His instructions.

Enter in 2 Chronicles 20, the story of Jehoshaphat's "battle."

In the book "Mountain in my Rearview Mirror" Bill Butterworth devotes an entire chapter to this amazing piece of Scripture. He breaks it down into four parts:

The Setup

The Strategy

The Battle

The Blessing

Let me summarize on the points that impacted me.

The Setup:

A vast army from Edom is marching against you from beyond the Dead Sea. v. 2

"There's an enemy out there...There are enemies, plural out there."

Jehoshaphat was terrified... v. 3

"Adversity causes us to worry and experience fear. Adversity, worry, and fear can cause us to draw closer to the Lord. Jehoshaphat was afraid, but what did he do with that fear?"

...and begged the Lord for guidance. v. 3

"He used that fear to focus more intently on his Lord. Pain usually sends us to the extremes. We're either pulled further away from God or drawn closer to Him."

The Strategy:

You are powerful and mighty; no one can stand against you! v. 6

"Power over adversity is in God's hands. No one can touch Him! If we're going to be victorious against our multiple enemies, it is not going to be because of any human strategy or advantage. It is all coming from the Lord. God wants us to exercise our faith and trust Him."

We stand in your presence. ...We can cry out to you to save us, and you will hear us and rescue us. v. 9

"We give it all to God. He will hear us and take care of us. We cry to Him. Life is so painful, so traumatic, so dysfunctional that all we can do is fall flat on our face and scream out to God, "Please do something to help me!" And the beauty is that He hears our cries. I just love that rapid-fire succession of verbs: we stand, we cry, You hear, You rescue."

We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help. v. 12

"We are powerless and without answers. Our eyes are on God. We are powerless against our enemies. We can't do it on our own. We surrender our will to the One who can do it Himself-God Himself."

The Battle:

The battle is not yours, but God's. v. 15

"There will be victory, but it's not because we are amazing. It is because God is."

You will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the Lord's victory. v. 17

"We don't need to fight, but we do need to stand in order to see God deliver us. He could have instructed the army to take the day off. But no, God required that the army come out in full preparation for battle and stand. Why would the Lord require such a posture? He requires it in order to show us that we cannot even begin to consider assuming a position of passivity. We need to prepare to get hit."

Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground...worshiping the Lord. v. 18

"Even in the middle of our adversity, we must still keep our focus on the Lord. It all comes down to faith. Can you trust God to deliver you? ...It's not easy, but it's still required. It's not simple, but it's right. It is never wrong to put your trust in God. Even though it may look bleak now, remember: God will never disappoint you."

The Blessing:

The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mout Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. v. 23

"Your obstacles might be more complicated than the battle of 2 Chronicles, but God can handle them. For so many of us, the name of the game these days is wait. We're being faithful. We're trusting God. But nothing seems to be happening. Hang in there, friend. Just because it isn't happening now doesn't mean it isn't going to happen. It's all a matter of timing-God's perfect timing."

There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! v. 25

"God will deliver. We won't know when, and we won't know how. But He will. And when He does...we will reap the rewards for a long time. Can you even imagine that outcome in your situation? Because of all you have been asked to endure, your reward is so extensive that it may take you the rest of your life to fully appreciate it!"

The men...returned...overjoyed that the Lord had given them victory over their enemies. ...So Jehoshaphat' kingdom was at peace, for God had given him rest on every side. v. 27, 30

"It's quiet. It's reflective. It's peaceful. It is our reward for being so faithful to a God who promises to be faithful to us."