Playing Blind
Jasen Bracy always wanted to play football, but retinal cancer he developed as a toddler took his eyesight by the time he was age 7. How could he play a fast-paced contact sport like football if he couldn't see?
This was the question before him. Yet young Jasen would not be dissauded. As he got older, he began calling around to different youth leagues to see if there were any teams that would take a chance on a kid who was sold out to following and relying on the guidance and direction of others to make his dreams come true. He found just such a team in the Modesto Raiders.
"The way he was on the phone, I just said, 'Come on we'll figure it out,'" coach David Nichols told CBS News.
Jasen started out as a running back, but soon advanced to ... wait for it ... quarterback!
"It's all memory," Jasen said. "It's all about having trust in the player, the receiver and the team. I have to trust them 100%.
Upworthy reports:
Bracy's teammates guide him into position on the field and his dad coaches him from the sidelines using a walkie-talkie that transmits to his helmet. "After the play starts, I may tell him, 'Hey, run to your right, let's get upfield,' or 'Watch out, somebody's coming to hit you,'" Bracy Sr. said.
All that trust, all that deep leaning into guidance and direction seems to have paid off. Not long after, Bracy led the Raiders to a 33-6 win.
You do not need to be sighted to walk in the ways of the Lord. It is not our eyes, but the "eyes of our hearts" that we need opened. When we trust in His Word, His will, and his ways, our path will always be clear. His eye and His mighty hand will guide us! As He says in His word, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalms 32:8, ESV).
Commit to the Lord's guidance, and commit His Word to your memory. Follow Jasen's example, "It's all about memory ... It's all about having trust ... [You] have to trust [Him] 100%."
"The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand" (Psalms 37: 23-24, ESV).
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV).
Right Street, Wrong House
There are moments in life where you can be close to where God calls you and still miss out on what he has for you.
Years ago, someone on our team got an invitation to a birthday party. When the day arrived, he typed in the address to GPS and arrived at the location. When he got to the house, he walked in and greeted a couple of people. Then he served himself some appetizers and got himself a drink. When he stepped to the backyard where the party was happening, he didn’t see the family that invited him. In fact, he didn’t recognize anyone.
Puzzled, he walked back out to the car to check the invitation, and though he was on the right street, he suddenly realized that he was at the wrong house.
Embarrassed, he walked three doors down and made it to party.
When asked about how he arrived at the wrong house, he said, “I saw the balloons on the mailbox and thought I was at the right place.”
We live in a culture that says, "Follow your own truth; follow your own understanding." The problem is: Our hearts are decietful above all else. (Jeremiah 17:9-10)
Don't trust your feelings or your own understanding: trust God's truth.
God knows the way because He's the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6).
When we apply the wisdom of God's word found in Proverbs 3:5-6, God will pave the way in front of us.
Don't trust the Lord's GPS "to a point," and then, in arrogance, pride, or presumption just give up on His navigation, leaning on your own sense of direction.
Here's my challenge: Follow God's directions all the way, because God's divine direction will get you to God's destiny.
Trust he knows how to lead you.
Trusting the Tour Guide
My wife an I took a vacation to Boston. We love to travel when we can and we tend to try to see everything a person can possibly see. On our first day in Boston we walked the Freedom Trail. We could have taken a 2 hour tour (with a tour guide!), but we wanted to see it all. We wanted to do it our way. We took the better part of the morning and afternoon seeing it all. I'm not sure how far we walked, but it was miles. Near the end of the Freedom Trail you find the Bunker Hill monument. It's 294 steps up the 221 foot tall monument. That's about 22 stories after walking all day. You also have to come down the steps.
*Stair number 200 in the climb to the top of the Bunker Hill Monument.
Once we got outside, my legs were so weak that I was wobbly. I had to stop and gather myself, but it was only about 4pm and we had the USS Constitution, the Boston Public Library, and Cheers to see that day. So we kept going. In the middle of the evening tour of the Boston Library, I realized that I couldn't walk down any of the steps. I was holding onto rails and "floating down." It was the same trying to go down the stairs to the subway. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to be injured for the rest of our trip!
Many of us are striving to accomplish so many things in life. We want money, power, relationships, things for our family. We strive after it all and never slow down. I didn't want to use a tour guide because I wanted it all. To be fair, the tour guides do a shorter version, and might have left out some of the more subtle or less prominent details.
And just like our hesitance to avail ourselves of the expertise and expedience of the tour guide, we often tend to assume (wrongly) that God, as well, may give us the "less than ideal tour." Afterall, we tend to "want it all" and not necessarily want what is "best."
Psalm 46:10 says "be still" or "cease striving" and "know that I AM God."
Once you stop long enough to know God, you begin to understand that following the Holy Spirit is better than striving after all the things you think you need, and you discover what you are truly created for.