I had the good fortune to be invited to speak to our Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy last Friday. What a great group of kids!!! It was especially gratifying since 10 or 11 of my football players showed up to hear me speak. I tried to emphasize a couple of key points to them while using my life’s journey as an example. Some of it as a good example and some of my journey as how not to do things.
One thing I emphasized was to be sure to build a fire wall between who (or Whose) you are and… what you do! Too often in our culture, we define people (and, more importantly— ourselves) by what they do; i.e., their job, their title, their success rather than WHO they are. It is particularly hard for athletes (and coaches!) because the newspaper is going to post your results on Saturday morning for everyone to read. We have a tendency to “define” ourselves by whether we win or lose. Win and we feel good about ourselves. Lose and our self worth takes a nose dive. You’re going to experience a life-long roller coaster ride if you live like this. A roller coaster may be exciting at an amusement park but it can be devastating in real life.
I shared one of my favorite Bible verses with the group to point out how God can “smooth out” that ride. Oh, there will still be bumps and curves but it’s a ride that is a lot more pleasant. I used the analogy of the Carrie Underwood song, Jesus Take the Wheel. Too often we keep God on the closet shelf until we need Him. We’re in the midst of a crisis and THEN we call for Him to “take the wheel.” It’s often too late. The Bible verse I shared was Philippeans 4:13, “I can do all things… through Christ! Who strengthens me.” I CAN, THROUGH CHRIST! He gives us the strength (on a daily basis— heck, on a moment to moment basis) to get through the up’s and down’s of life. We have to trust Him to take control and we walk with Him. Trust— it’s all about trust!
Trusting my life to Jesus gave me a purpose that I had never experienced before. Whereas my purpose before becoming a Beleiver was to be sure that I was being served, it slowly began to change as I let God’s Holy Spirit work through me. (See Romans 12:2) Now my purpose is this: “He died for me; I’ll live for Him.” Everyday, it’s Jesus that I live for. Everyday, I follow after Him. Everyday, I’ll walk with Him, my Lord.
Jesus has made my journey less burdensome and He can do the same for you! Each day becomes an adventure as I wake up and say, “Good morning Holy Spirit! I can’t wait to see what You and I together can accomplish!!!” You can have the same thing. Just let Jesus “take the wheel” of your life!
Happy 36th birthday to my wonderful son! The Virginia Tech Massacre occurred on his 30th birthday. He was on campus (he works at VT) when it all broke loose. I am proud of my son— for WHO he is!!!
