Let’s Play Football – What makes a great Defensive End?
I am an armchair football coach at best. My football playing career ended in the 8th grade. I knew my 110 lbs. had no career as a tight end in a running attack. The only play that included my name was the statue of liberty and I was lucky to have that one play with my name on it in the playbook. The statue of liberty was the ultimate play of deception and almost every time was able to trick even the best defense end.
I love a backyard Nerf football game as much as anyone, but I am no football coach. My football coaching ends with fantasy football, but let me enjoy just a little football coach talk in today’s post. Like most of you, I love football, and I hate that we are wondering if we will be enjoying watching football soon.
I felt led to talk about one of the biggest parts of the game, Deception! None of us wake up in the morning hoping to face adversity, but every time a defensive lineman gets in a stance, he is facing someone prepared to do all he can to block him from reaching his goal.
I believe we are called to go into all the world, fight the good fight, praise like there is no tomorrow, and seek with all our hearts, but when you set out preparing to do just that, what happens most of the time?
What I have found out is that life is much like playing defensive end. Growing up I loved the Dallas Cowboys. Coach Tom Laundry is still one of my favorite coaches of all-time. The Cowboys daunting “Doomsday Defense” with Ed “Too Tall” Jones on one end and Harvey Martin on the other was at the heart of one of the best NFL defenses of all-time. How can you stop such great players?
The answer to that question. DECEPTION!
The enemy brings opposition. When you know you are doing what God has called you to do in life. When you are confident that you have heard from God. You sell out to go with all your heart, but the next second you look up to take that first step, you feel like you have a 300 lb. lineman standing in front of you. It is at that moment you have to decide. What is your next step?
If you are running free towards your goal without any opposition, blowing past that big lineman like it was nothing, then as good as it feels, a great defensive end knows something is not right. From experience and studying the scouting report, a good defense end knows what feels easy may be the enemy’s actual plan.
No resistance rarely means you are headed in the right direction.
It is at that exact time that the enemy deceives you with a screen pass or a pulling guard uses your momentum and traps you pushing you out of the play as the running back runs inside your gap. Why are we so often deceived by the enemy? Why do we always want life to be so easy?
When you are facing the greatest resistance, there is a very good chance that you are exactly in God’s Will!
When you feel exhausted from trying to push that 300 lb lineman backwards, so many choose to quit or go a different direction. By doing so they eliminate the opportunity for God to step in on your behalf. It is what you should have been expecting all the time to occur. Something that can only be described as supernatural. It is at that time that the impossible shows up. What we call in the English language a miracle.
The challenge is to continue to push forward when the resistance is exhausting. Having the faith to stay in the game focused and fighting long enough that when the time comes for you to make the play, you are still in position for God to use you. When your being blocked, know that often, you are exactly where God wants you.
Yes, sometimes God is closing a door and opening another door, but from my experience, the greatest miracles and breakthroughs I have experienced are following a time of facing the greatest resistance in my journey. Discerning whether you are being blocked for a reason or whether you have actually beat your defender and are headed towards a sack is why you must listen daily to our Coach.
God has given us the playbook, but we must learn and yearn to seek His presence daily.
When we know and hear His voice daily, we can hear Him yelling “Screen” or “Trap”. Not only can we hear our God, but He has given us even greater access to Him. He lives in us. He has sent the Holy Spirit to live in and work through us to help us, guide us, and empower us to achieve His plan for us. An unlimited power source that has one mission and that is fulfilling the will of our Father, our Coach.
So, don’t be deceived when you are facing adversity. Don’t be quick to quit seeking what God has placed on your heart. When running freely with no opposition, check your heart and make sure you are not being deceived by the enemy and heading into a trap. It is time for you to become a great defensive end, on Team Jesus, wreaking havoc on the enemy for the Glory of God!
Photo by Ben Hershey on Unsplash