At the end of a night of basketball or volleyball in the gym it's easy to just take for granted that everybody will be back next week. Because we think that way, many affirming words are left unsaid, and hugs and high-fives are not given.God has reminded me on more than one occasion over the past 4-5 years that some guys don't come back next week. In fact some guys don't even leave the gym that very night. When that happens there is a wake of people left behind who wished they had been more faithful with the time God had given them to be in each others lives.
In a basketball game in a church league four years ago I was guarding a man (Mark) who seemed to be in great shape. He certainly ran me all over the gym in the first half of our game. At halftime of our games we would sit on the bleachers and listen to one of the coaches share a devotion or testimony of God's presence in our lives. Mark was sitting on the row directly behind me on the bleachers. About half way through the talk he put his hand on my shoulder, said "wait a minute" as his eyes rolled back he fell onto me and then down to the gym floor. We tried CPR and shocked him four times with a defibrillator, but it was his time and he was gone in a matter of seconds. Have you ever had to meet a spouse at an emergency room to tell them the love of their life is gone? Then to watch and listen to her struggle with how she was going to tell the kids when she got home that they'd never see Daddy again? I know the guys in the league (myself included) wondered for many months after it was over if we had done all we were supposed to do for Mark. Not do all that we could to save him from this physical life, but to make sure he was included in the eternal one we knew about. To this day nobody but God knows for sure.
Just two years after that I was coaching a young boy named Jake in our church youth basketball league on a Saturday morning. His Dad was my assistant on the bench. We enjoyed the game and afterwards talked about when our next practice was and what we would work on to improve our team . Jake and his brother were killed in a tragic train crossing accident just hours later and at the end of the day I was once again in a hospital room with grieving parents who assumed, like we all would, that their boys would be coming back home after spending some time with some friends after our game. We showed up at practice that next week but I don't remember bouncing the first ball. We had six other boys on the team that were wishing they had more time with their friend and needed to be counseled.
And as recently as two months ago I had just given a devotion to a group of young men at our church who play pick up basketball every Tuesday night. At the end of the devotion I asked if there were any prayer requests. Since most of these guys don't attend church they are usually pretty tight lipped so it should have been a clue for me when a young man in his late 20's slowly raised his hand and just asked for prayer for himself and his family. I said the prayer for him and rushed out of the gym to attend to something else that evening. Three days later D'Angelo was murdered and 20-25 guys that he had been playing ball with for a few years came back to the gym the following Tuesday wondering why they hadn't tried to get to know him better, encouraged him each Tuesday, made sure of his eternal destination or like me ...didn't take the time after the prayer to see if there was anything more I could do for him.
I left the last part of the title of this blog blank because the truth is we could put any event or action in the blank. Saying a prayer for a young man who asks for one is NEVER JUST A PRAYER. God had a reason for him asking for it. God knew what was going to happen in just a few days and He had me be one one the last pastors he would ever come into contact with. God knew it would be young Jake's last time in the church, even if it was for a basketball game. He had a reason for him being on my team. It's NEVER JUST A COINCIDENCE that I was his coach that day and maybe one of the last ones to pray with him after his game. For Mark, who like every other guy that night playing in his game, expected to walk out of the gym doors and drive home to his family....NEVER JUST A BASKETBALL LEAGUE. God knew when Mark signed up for the league that we was putting him in our care every Thursday night for the last 8 weeks of his life. God wants to use us in the situations he places us in on a daily basis. We are too busy looking for the flashing lightening and the booming thunder that we believe comes with his missions for us, when most of the time He is just looking for us to be faithful to reach out in love and kindness to the people we work with everyday. To the people we play sports with. To the people who live on either side of us. To the people we go to church with and especially to the people under the same roof we live under.
If my blog does anything for you today I hope it reminds you that all of our days are numbered and that we need to take advantage of, or not take for granted, the time we have with each other in any situation. And lastly that he wants to use you right where you are to love and make a difference in the lives of people around you.
"Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom"
Psalms 90:12
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