How many times in your sporting life have you had someone tell you “you have to have faith things will get better”? Take for instance this past year in Ohio State football and our need to have faith that the nightmare would end eventually. Where did our faith really lie though? Was it in the administration of the University that we love? Maybe. Was it in the belief that Urban Meyer would be the next head coach and everything would be fine? For thousands I am sure that was part of it. What I do know is this, faith is best put into our God who will take care of those things that are important.
There have been a lot of good examples of faith from athletes just in the past year that have caught our attention. Mostly about Tim Tebow and the type of Christian he is and where he always puts his faith. What was truly apparent in his story this past year was that the Devil was at work too. So many times you read tweets or stories of people questioning whether he is for real or not. That’s how Satan does it. He attacks people’s faith first. That is where he gets you. I don’t want to talk about Tebow though. I want to bring your attention to Buckeyes who do have faith, and a belief that you must have it in everything.
For me, having faith that God will take care of things in my life has always been a given. Those who know me, know that I have a daughter with cystic fibrosis. I am not bashful about it, although she is. She would rather live her life and nobody ever know she has this deadly disease – but she cannot. People in our community know about her and several always ask how she is doing.
Truth is God has taken very good care of my daughter, as has my wife Jackie. There was a time that she didn’t work so she could always be there for her and my son if she was put in the hospital. She hasn’t been hospitalized since she was 2 years old. It is an Amazing God we have because I have always had faith that she would be okay. Some people will tell you that faith comes with a price. I’m here to tell you that faith has a good price, in that you will see the results and it will happen in many ways. My daughter has lived a happy and healthy life. Me and the rest of my family have enjoyed every moment and continue to have the faith needed to face every struggle that comes, it has helped us in the rest of our lives.
Satan will do everything to waver your faith, trust me I know. But there are a lot of Buckeyes out there that can help you everyday keep the faith. As far as athletes go there are several Fellowship of Christian Athletes groups that can be joined and spread the good. If you’re just an average joe like me, then you need to look up a few people.
The first one that I spend a lot of time reading and following on twitter is Roy Hall. His foundation is built on faith in God. His hard work, along with the people who help him, make everything he does through DRIVEN thrive. All you have to do is read a little about Roy and you’ll realize that his faith is endless. Roy was baptized recently and it was an amazing thing to behold. I’ve witnessed many of these in my life and can tell you I have not seen anyone as happy as Roy was to finally be baptized.
Nate is an amazing young man. He wasn’t a starter for the Buckeyes but he stuck it out and worked hard to be involved. He was a wardaddy on special teams and played a huge roll in its improvement. Nate’s tweets used to be about the team or his friends. Most of his spare time was spent chatting with people like me and having a good time doing it. Nate will tell you that God has plans for him and that in itself is a conviction of his faith. He has found God and he does Him good – by tweeting about his faith and the plans God has for him.
Nate still chats with his fans and always will. I remember being a little upset he was done with football and that I wasn’t going to have him around to enjoy. He reminded me that he was leaving the University but not twitter and that we will continue to be friends there. Faith plays a huge roll in Nate’s life and he is a believer in the plans God has for him.
The last Buckeye I want to talk to you about is Travis Howard. If there’s one person on the Ohio State team from last year that had his faith tested it was Travis. I wrote an article for another blog about him and how he had become my favorite all-time Buckeye. It mostly didn’t have anything to do with how good of a player he is. In fact, it is based on the type of person Travis is and what his faith meant to me. If you follow him on twitter then you know he was spending a lot of his time working hard to get better.
The Coach Tressel issue came and Travis was one of the main people trying his hardest to hold things together – and not just for the team either. He was interacting with a lot of us fans trying to use his faith and ease our worries. Those who really believed in his faith and what he was telling us. It’s easy to do with Travis, he is the kind of person that has a huge heart and doesn’t mind wearing his emotions on his sleeves. He got caught up in something that caused him to be suspended for one game and that is where Satan tried to do his work. It wasn’t because Travis faith wavered. It was because those fans who find it so easy to turn their faith on and off just because of a mistake had wavered. Travis stayed the course, leaned on his faith in God, and came back with conviction. His faith is even more apparent today than before and it’s contagious. Travis will be the emotional leader of this team and it will because of his faith in God that things will go according to HIS plan.
It’s easy for a person’s faith to waiver. We as human beings go through it all of the time. Having faith in your sports team isn’t where you need to put your faith. Put it in God and his plan and you will enjoy life a lot better. I am not saying that God even cares about sports, because he doesn’t. HE cares about all and those who serve Him and have faith in Him. He just happens to have a lot of HIS believers and those who have faith in HIM in sports. In particular, with THE Ohio State Buckeyes that we so love.
Here are tweets from each of these three that appear everyday.
Roy Hall –
Don’t just praise Jesus when He blesses you with something. Praise Him at ALL times because of who He is!
#RH8
Nate Oliver –
Thanking the Lord for allowing me to see another day. Lord please continue to bless me and watch over me everyday!
Travis Howard –
Everybody going to church today I hope it’s not a one day thing but I’m happy for all the people who did or will attend church today
I’ll part with this verse that is one that I really love.
Matthew 17:20 NIV He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Until next Sunday’s Sermon, have a Blessed day.
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