Just Trust

Romans 8 gives us encouragement that no matter what the external circumstances of our lives may be, we can be strengthened internally by the presence of Almighty God, as we trust in Him:
(37) in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.   The consistent, abiding presence of Almighty God, the comfort  of the Lord Jesus Christ, can strengthen us and give us peace and even a sense of supernatural joy even in the darkest moments of our lives.   When we experience tragedy, disappointment, adversity, and pain in our lives, we can continue to trust Him.   In the darkest hours of our human experience, He is light and life to us.   When the externals don't line up the way we think they should, we can be confident that He is at work on the internals, bringing us into a deeper place in Christ.

In the midst of tragedy, utterly defeated, in a sense, in the game of life, Job declared His faith in God - we read in chapter 1:
20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord."


A young man who plays college football said this:  “Football is just a game...Then there’s the game of life.”

Those are the words recorded by The Sporting News as spoken by Heisman Trophy finalist and Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, who has not only had an amazing season for the Fighting Irish, but he has been fighting through personal tragedy - the death of his girlfriend and his grandmother, within six hours of each other.  

Manti didn't miss a second of a game - in fact, after these deaths, he turned in a 2-interception performance against Michigan.   He said, "I felt a sense of peace knowing that so many people cared about Manti instead of No. 5...And I had a feeling that I know people are starting to understand what life is truly about.”

And, for the Christian, we can know what life is all about - and we can play the game of life with our trust completely in the Lord, realizing no matter what might come our way, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Tonight, Manti Te'o will be the pursuer - and the pursued understands just a bit about what life is about, too.   A.J. McCarron could not have made it this far to lead the Crimson Tide - he almost lost his life in a jet ski accident when he was 5.   Tonight, he will be wearing a yellow bracelet, the same one he wore in last year's BCS National Championship Game - it says, "Just Trust".

It was given to him by a little girl from Mobile named Starla Chapman.  This time last year, it looked as if she wouldn't make it - her little body ravaged by leukemia, the same disease that took the life of Manti Te'o's girlfriend a few months ago.   A.J. bonded with the young lady after some of the Alabama players visited the hospital where she was in 2011.   He gave her a Christmas present, Starla gave him the bracelet, with that saying that she had spoken to her parents in the midst of her chemotherapy.

I don't know a whole lot about the faith perspective of either of these guys, but I do know that these stories can inspire us.   Even though Monti and A.J. play at a high level in college football, they realize that there's more to life than football.   So, we can ask ourselves - what's important to us?    For the Christian, our hope is found in the Lord, and our relationship with Him and with others are paramount.   This can sustain us in times of loss, when the externals don't go the way we think they should - we can still say, no matter what, "Blessed be the name of the Lord" - we can declare "just trust"!