Submitted By Gervais Baptist
I’ve never cared for football. So much excitement over yards and downs. I just can’t catch the fever that so many fans enjoy. I’d rather do almost anything than watch a football game. But recently, a new respect for football players and what they do has blossomed inside me.
It began to sprout one day when I was carrying my five-month-old baby from the car to our front door. There was nothing on the paved path to trip over, yet I tripped. Some invisible obstacle caused me to stumble, fall to knees, then to elbows, and finally to lose my grip on the baby. As my hands opened and the back of John-Paul’s head hit a rock, my first thought was, “Why did my hands open? Football players fall all the time, and they manage to hold onto the ball.” The baby cried for about thirty seconds and was fine. Not a bruise, not a scrape on his little head. Pupils looked normal, breathing was normal, and heartbeat was normal. Thank you, Jesus. But still the bothersome question: why did I lose my grip?
I still don’t have an answer. It’s terrible to think that a football player cares more about scoring points than I care about holding onto my precious, vulnerable child. Is holding onto an object while falling a matter of practice? Is it a skill that only a few possess? Or did God, once again, use my weakness to display His strength? Maybe He’s saying, “You may have dropped the baby, but I did not. I will never drop him. And guess what? I will never drop you either.”
I don’t need football lessons. I need faith lessons. Thank you, Jesus. Not just for protecting John-Paul when I could not. Thank you, Jesus, for reminding me Who You Are.
“The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Deuteronomy 33:27a
