Walking With God
- Kingdom Kulture
- May 21
- 7 min read
Not long after I took my first steps, I began to try and pick up a football. Football has always been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Running, catching and throwing were things I had become accustomed to and came natural to me. However, after many years of training and preparing, I found myself jobless and dreamless in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
After a failed attempt to land a spot with the Philadelphia Eagles, I went to Hawaii to live with my parents. Despite thinking that all hope of me playing football again was lost, I still continued my extensive training regime with no plans in place. To my surprise, not long after moving to Hawaii I met my wife, Polina, there.
One morning after praying, I felt that I heard God say that someone with football connections was coming to the house. I brushed it off, assuming that it was my own, wishful thinking. To my surprise, an hour later I heard a knock on the door. It was a man who had come to meet with my parents, but we ended up chatting. He said I looked like an athlete.
After telling him the story of my experience with the Philadelphia Eagles, he asked, "Would you be interested in playing for the Green Bay Packers?"
"Of course. Who wouldn't be?" I responded.
He proceeded to tell me that he would write a letter to the General Manager on my behalf. Ecstatic, I thanked him and said his help is greatly appreciated. After I received a copy of the letter, the man told me that he had sent it to the organization and wished me good luck.
Two weeks later with no response, my mind began to race. One morning while my wife and I prayed together, I saw a vision of a plane taking off. Not knowing what this meant, I told her that I was confused. Shortly after, we came to the realization that God was asking me to go to Wisconsin myself. After taking a few minutes to puke from my nerves, my wife packed my bag and I was on my way. Despite not knowing where I was headed and having zero connections, I believed that God would make a way.
Shortly after I arrived in Wisconsin, I got a rental car and proceeded to go and look at the stadium. To my surprise, it was open to the public for most of the day. As I walked around the stadium in awe, a gentleman approached me and asked if I would like to schedule a tour for the next day. With no hesitation I said, "Of course."
After arriving the next day and going through a pretty lengthy tour, we finally made it to the end and I heard God's voice say, "Ask him if you can give something to the president."
Not knowing if this would land me in jail or just laughed at, I nervously asked him, "Can I give something to the president?"
Looking at me very strange, he says, "Sure. Let me go get someone."
Before he could blink, I ran to my car to grab my resume to give to the president. In a blink of an eye, I was going up to the president's office on the elevator with an old lady asking me what was going on. I replied to her, "I don't really know," and we rode in silence all the way up.
As soon as the elevator opened, she bursts out to one of the employees, "I have a future Packer Player that needs to see the president."
Not knowing what to say or think, I just stood there with a blank expression on my face. The director got my resume and said, "I will put this directly on his desk, myself."
Thinking I was in a dream, I got in my car smiling from ear to ear, not believing the events that had just taken place. After several trips to Wisconsin and meeting with the president, I started to realize that God's goal was never to put me on a team, but rather to teach me how to walk by faith with Him into doing His will.
"7 For we walk by faith [we regulate our lives and conduct ourselves by our conviction or belief respecting man’s relationship to God and divine things, with trust and holy fervor ; thus we walk] not by sight or appearance. " 2 Corinthians 5:7 AMPC
He was teaching me how to trust Him and allow His spirit to lead me outside of my comfort zone, outside of what was normal, and inside His will.
In order to play in the NFL, you must be ready to sacrifice everything, time with your wife, time with your kids, and also be ready to miss out on special occasions. This is the life that you can expect in pursuit of the NFL and no one seems to question it, but what if Jesus Christ also expects this level of commitment when it comes to our faith? What is the price that we must also pay in deciding to pursue after Jesus Christ?
"25 Now huge crowds were going along with [Jesus], and He turned and said to them, 26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother [in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters—[yes] and even his own life also—he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which of you, wishing to build a farm building, does not first sit down and calculate the cost [to see] whether he has sufficient means to finish it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid the foundation and is unable to complete [the building], all who see it will begin to mock and jeer at him, 30 Saying, This man began to build and was not able (worth enough) to finish. 31 Or what king, going out to engage in conflict with another king, will not first sit down and consider and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand [men] to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if he cannot [do so], when the other king is still a great way off, he sends an envoy and asks the terms of peace. 33 So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim to, give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:25-33 AMPC
We are willing to sacrifice everything for perhaps a couple of years of prosperity on this earth, but what are we willing to sacrifice for eternal prosperity in Paradise? Do we really believe that the Jealous God we read about is okay with coming second to our careers and our hobbies?
Shortly after coming to this realization, I began to understand that this is what it means to live by faith: Not making decisions based off what I could see, but making decisions based off obeying the God I had always claimed to have been living for. The sad reality is that unless a government forces us into extreme levels of devotion to God we typically never express the deep devotion we claim to have for Him.
As you can imagine, shortly after experiencing these incredible events, my spirit and soul longed for more. Now it was time to shift my commitment and obedience from the pursuit of an NFL team to who the Bible calls THE KING OF KINGS.
"23 Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, 24 Knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [and not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [real] reward. [The One Whom] you are actually serving [is] the Lord Christ (the Messiah)." Colossians 3:23-24 AMPC
The reality is that almost every human being on this planet would drop everything at a moment's notice if a job opened up paying almost a million dollars. But what about dropping everything for a God that we say has given us 10,000 reasons?
"27 Then Peter answered Him, saying, Behold, we have left [our] all and have become Your disciples [sided with Your party and followed You]. What then shall we receive? 28 Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, in the new age [the Messianic rebirth of the world], when the Son of Man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have [become My disciples, sided with My party and] followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And anyone and everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for My name’s sake will receive many [even a hundred] times more and will inherit eternal life." Matthew 19:27-29 AMPC
The truth is that religion can be a positive change to anyone's life, but it's not the drastic change of life and heart and also commitment that Jesus expects. I wouldn't expect to land a spot on a team in the NFL from showing up once a week. But yet, we expect to land a spot in Heaven with that same lack of commitment and dedication.
"27 External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world." James 1:27 AMPC
Jesus died for us to have a relationship with God through continued obedience and walking with Him. He gave up His life planning for us to allow Him to live through us.
Question of the Day: Are you ready to walk with God or do you prefer to do nothing and continue to sing and talk about him?
10,000 reasons by Matt Redman
