the Morning Jog: 5'10 . . . 180lbs

5’10 . . . 180lbs

If you know anything at all about football, those measurements would make you think I was referring to a junior high or high school player. But a former National Football League star?? No way. Stranger than that, this guy played the position of quarterback for 20 years in the professional ranks . . . this followed an amazing college career, where he won a Heisman trophy (college football’s most prestigious award).

Following an incredible senior year at Boston College University, in which he won the Heisman, Doug Flutie dropped all the way to the 11^th round of the 1985 NFL draft. 284 players were selected before the Los Angeles Rams took him with pick number 285. How could any team not select this guy higher than that after he won the award that proclaimed him as college football’s best player?

(Doug Flutie - Boston College University 1984)

That answer is quite simple: Doug Flutie did not look like what a professional quarterback should have looked like. He was simply too small. Pro quarterbacks must be at least 6’4 or 6’5 to be successful; they must have a laser rocket arm…and a strut in their step. Flutie had none of those things.

To make a long story short, when Doug Flutie retired in 2005, most football officials described him as the guy who simply had ‘it.’ It wasn’t always pretty. It may have looked a bit unorthodox . . . but there was no doubt Doug Flutie was a winner.

People that overcome these obstacles cause us to cheer and support their every success. But individuals such as Doug Flutie also annoy us because they take away our excuses of why we can’t.

Scripture is full of examples. Think about David, the shepherd boy, for a moment. Samuel went to the house of Jesse to anoint one of his sons to be the next King of Israel. Jesse paraded each of his sons before Samuel, knowing one of them looked perfect for the part. But Samuel did not see what God had sent him there to find. He asked Jesse, ‘Do you not have any more sons?’ David’s own father didn’t see anything kingly in the son who played the harp and merely tended to the sheep. Yet God saw something different – a soon-to-be man after His own heart.

Who sets the precedent for what is considered great in our world…media, money, popularity, possessions? So many feel they need these things or they won’t be great. When will we ever learn that man’s ways are not God’s ways. When He chooses you to accomplish extra-ordinary things, neither looks, popularity, money, or anything else matters…because God is in it.

Without question, a lack of confidence has robbed us so many times of greatness. We live in a world of comparisons. We look in the mirror and think, ‘If I only looked like that person.’ We look at our friends and think, ‘If I only had their money.’ We observe other’s talents and say, ‘If only I could do what they can.’ And day after day passes by - wasted, because we are stuck on ‘If only. . .’

If not today, when will we ever declare that God is for us in our lives? And if He is for you, then no obstacle can prevent you from reaching life’s highest goals.

(Bel Air Terps Football - Bel Air, MD)

Allow Paul to build your confidence today. Philippians 1:6, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (NLT)

Christ is the determining factor.