It’s Thursday morning. I have a busy work schedule today and tomorrow morning is my self-imposed deadline for my weekly Inspiration and I really can’t seem to focus–not on my impending workload or on crafting today’s message. My mind is on football. Our New Orleans Saints play their first preseason game tonight. As I travelled to my office this morning, I noticed many of our local citizens of the Who Dat! Nation adorned in their black and gold regalia. It’s only a preseason game, but you would think it was the Super Bowl! Win or lose, life is good when you’re a Saint’s fan.
Still, how can my preoccupation with tonight’s game provide me with the inspirational fodder I need for this weekly missive? As I stroll into my office and sit at my desk, I continue to struggle for a spark of enlightenment. Glancing at the rows of books that line my credenza, my eyes are drawn to a book I haven’t picked up since that miracle Super Bowl year of 2009-2010. It’s Drew Brees’s book, Coming Back Stronger. I open it randomly and, as if guided by a celestial power (perhaps a Saint), I find the following prose:
MANY PEOPLE WOULD DEFINE the “good life” as one that’s free of pain and hardship and heartache. But I’ve learned that adversity is actually an opportunity. It’s a gift, though it may not look like it in the moment. The difficulties life throws at you can be a doorway to something better–something you hadn’t even dreamed was possible.
After I tore my ACL on a faithful day in December 1995 (as a junior in high school), I had surgery, which resulted in me having to wear a knee brace and walk with crutches for six weeks. I felt like I was at a dead end–or at least, had hit a huge roadblock. But at the same time, something was happening internally. The injury had stirred me up inside, and I was filled with questions: Do I have a purpose? Is there a reason I’m on this earth? Do I have a destiny, or is everything just chance?
I remember hobbling with my dad into First Baptist Church of Austin, Texas. Usually I didn’t pay much attention during the sermon. I would nod off or elbow my brother or check out the girls. I had been taught from a young age that church was important, but like most sixteen year olds, I didn’t see how it connected with real life. Church was just something you did on Sundays and maybe Wednesday nights if you didn’t have practice.
For some reason the message that day wasn’t normal. I had a different feeling as I listened. And this time I was really listening.
I was sitting in the pew with my crutches next to me and my knee brace on, thinking about my future. It had been about two weeks since my surgery, and I was lost in all the questions. I wasn’t only thinking about my football future–I was thinking about the direction I wanted to go in life. This injury had stopped me from pursuing my sports dream, and it was this crisis that created a defining moment for the rest of my life.
As I sat there thinking about those deep, huge questions that everyone faces at some point, the pastor, Dr. Browning Ware, was preaching about what God desires us to be. As an illustration in his message, he mentioned the movie A Few Good Men. He said that God is looking for a few good men to carry on his teachings and to walk the walk with Christ. That’s when the lightbulb came on for me. He’s talking to me. I want to be one of God’s few good men.
It was an epiphany. Life finally made sense–this was not some random existence on earth. God had a plan for me, and he wanted me to be in a relationship with him. If I would cultivate that relationship, good things would spill over to others in my life. I knew I wanted to be one of God’s few good men no matter what happened with my sports career.
At that point I didn’t know if I would ever play quarterback again. I didn’t have a clue what the future would hold. But I knew that no matter what happened, I wanted to do things the right way–to please God and live my life for him.
I didn’t see a vision, and lightning bolts didn’t shoot out of the ceiling. I didn’t walk forward at the end of the service either. But there was something going on inside of me–something I can only explain as God moving in. A calmness came over my life because I finally understood that God had a plan for me. He was in control. I still approached every day with determination, and I tried to use the gifts and talents he had given me to be the best I could be at everything. But in the end, I knew it wasn’t about my striving and clawing my way to the top. I knew God would take care of me. And I knew I had to trust that whatever path he led me down was the path I was meant to be on.
This belief immediately carried over into my daily approach to life as I propelled into my studies and rehab. All that pressure I used to feel started to disappear as I learned to give it my best and then commit the rest to the Lord. I couldn’t escape the sense that God’s plan for me was to come back stronger and lead my team again.
Based upon Drew Brees’s testimony, isn’t it fitting that he has become not only the leader of but the epitome of our beloved Saints?
It is not what is happening to you but rather what is happening in you that determines whether you succeed or fail. – Ervin Seale
Have an AWE-full Weekend!