Friday Night Lights

When you grow up in the South you find there is something special about stadium lights shining brightly on a cool autumn evening. That’s what drew me to a stadium recently. It wasn’t that I had friends who were attending or children participating in the game, but mainly I went for the memories to see if it was as nostalgic as remembered from days gone by.

The evening was cold, the crowds were pouring into the stadium donning coats and blankets, the smell of popcorn and hot chocolate were in the air along with the sounds of drums, whistles and stomping on the stadium bleachers. I had planned on sitting with the coach’s fiancée, but with the enormous crowd, I was unable to find her, so I went to an area that was less crowded—the opponent’s section. 

Sitting contently I enjoyed observing the scene unfolding around me.  As you probably know football fans can be an unusual breed therefore they are fun to watch. They come with all kinds of paraphernalia that represents their team, most importantly being team colors shown off with great pride. 

The students watch the game more casually than the parents who can be sideline quarterbacks trying to call the plays that they feel would work best. They also get quite upset when the referees make calls that they think are unfair or just plain wrong especially if they are against their favorite player. 

You also have the diehard fans—you can spot them from afar. They have their professional stadium seats, their team color blankets, the t-shirts and ball caps sporting the team mascot and maybe even a button with a picture of one of the players.

It was the same lights that drew a special guest to the stadium on the last football game of the season last year. Tim Tebow exited I-70 in order to check out the high school game. When he appeared everyone was ecstatic, but one player in particular was in awe because he had been praying for the entire season that God would be glorified on the field in Edwards, Colorado. This probably was not the way that the player envisioned it—it was much better. 

Tim Tebow not only attended the game, but met with the players sharing his faith and encouraging them in theirs. God indeed was glorified on the field that night.

Was this an answer to a young man’s prayer? I believe so.

This is the perfect example to me that we should not limit God in the way that He answers our prayers, because He has a plan that is much better than ours.

Where will you dare to dream big? Will you pray about it? Will you look expectantly for God’s answer? 

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

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