Bacon, Eggs and God

Twist

Most NFL teams carry two or three backup quarterbacks on their rosters. Yes, quarterback injuries are always a distinct possibility and occur frequently; as we saw today when the Kansas City Chiefs lost their premier starting quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, due to a dislocated kneecap. Mahomes had been playing the previous two games with an ankle injury and that may have been a contributing factor in today’s injury.

Now thinking back to the start of the season, the Chiefs had settled on Chad Henne as their second quarterback and two other quarterbacks were vying for a position on the team roster. A simple twist of fate changed things when Henne suffered a broken ankle during a preseason game. At that point in time the other two quarterbacks on Kansas City’s roster were Chase Litton and Kyle Shurmur, neither of whom have any NFL experience.

All things considered, the Chiefs acted quickly, and wisely so, bringing in Matt Moore to be the backup to Patrick Mahomes. In 2018, Kansas City expressed an interest in signing Moore, but ultimately went with Henne. Moore spent the last season out of football, but was on the Chiefs’ radar when they signed Henne to a two-year deal. Even though Moore had not thrown a pass in the regular season since the 2017 season, the signing may prove to be one of best decisions made by the Chiefs; especially now that Patrick Mahomes is going to be sidelined for quite some time.

While watching Matt Moore enter the game to replace the injured Mahomes, I thought about the story of Jephthah in the Scriptures. The extraordinary story of Jephthah’s life illustrates a vital truth. God chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God can use rejected men and women to save those who have rejected them. We can never assume, because God can do anything. God can turn things around; giving our lives meaning and purpose even when we’ve felt that nothing we do will ever matter to anyone else. Even though others reject us, deride us and ignore us, we must never give up our hope in Jesus Christ. We can be strengthened by the examples of Jephthah.

Jephthah was a mighty warrior, because he had lived for the Lord even though being estranged from his family and home country. He became mighty in the Lord without their help or acceptance; even though they had turned their backs on him.

The same is true with many of God’s sons and daughters today. God is teaching them to be strong in Christ, not in the accepted religious and social traditions of the day. God is with them, becoming all they need, as they live out the preaching of the cross without looking for fanfare or preeminence or an opulent church building or a private jet or a six figure salary.

Like Jephthah, our power is not found in things…it is found in the Lord.

Jephthah was not seeking leadership; it came to him in God’s time. He was living his life in a good land and serving the Lord when his own people came to him because they needed his help.

Be encouraged! God is in charge and he will use your life in his own way and in his own time.

You never know when you might be called to step in and step up!