Lessons from the NFL...Dropped Passes and Missed Opportunities

Well the Buffalo Bills almost beat the Pittsburg Steelers this last weekend. But then the receiver dropped the "easy" pass that would have won it. He was crushed and the game was lost. Later that day the young receiver "tweeted" on the internet communicating his disappointment that God had let him down and wondered "why?". The news people who heard about his "tweet" wondered about his putting his doubt out there like that. I must confess, I too struggle with his "tweet" and his choice to put his faith out there like this at such a vulnerable moment like feeling crushed because "his prayers had not been answered like he had wanted". He had "foreseen" and envisioned a different outcome. He had seen victory in the game as he confidently ran down the field, as he lifted his hands to catch the pass...a "sure thing" and easy for such Christian athlete like him. Did God let him down? Following the tweet in which he questions God passionately in which he said "really", I can picture God saying "Really? You are putting this out there for all to see, as if I had failed you? After all, you dropped the pass. I gave you the skill and the ability to catch it and you didn't and now you are blaming me? Really?" "You are willing to blow your Christian testimony as well as the game? Why couldn't you have just praised me. I understand your frustration. I get frustrated too...it's tough to watch your spiritual children being given so much, so many gifts and just blow it time after time. I give you such easy passes and tasks to accomplish and you just keep blowing it. Still I love you. Practice more on focusing on the ball. Work harder. Trust me and don't base your faith on whether a game is lost or won. Don't make the game or your victories and losses in such an idol. I love you and have a bigger plan for you than you can imagine. If you can't handle the game and keep it in proper perspective, maybe you should quit and live your life for me in a different way..." - signed,God. It is an interesting thought and imagining. What do our games really mean to God? How disappointed does God get when we drop a pass? How disappointed does God get when we publically "diss" Him, in a "tweet" or on Facebook, on a text over the phone or with our mouth? After all we just used the computer "code" language for the profanity and didn't actually say it. We say we are Christians and I think that this Christmas season it is time we start living, talking, tweeting, texting, and Facebooking like it. Just a thought after watching some football this weekend. I hope the young man has other opportunities to catch passes that win big games. But mostly I pray that when the opportunity comes to be a good witness for the King of Kings he takes it and doesn't let his emotion carry him away to say things that matter and hurt the cause of Christ. And perhaps more appropriate for all of us "non-NFL types" I pray that I can be faithful when I have these opportunities to praise Him and give thanks in all things. Blessings in the House. "Come On, Man, Somebody Praise Him."