The Smallest Bullet

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”

Galatians 6:14

The other day my eldest son and I read a Cherokee fable titled, The Game. It is about some animals and birds, opponents in a ball game, a game that looks a lot like football. My son particularly enjoyed this fable for such a time as this because he just completed his very first season of flag football. It has been a wonderful season, a mixed bag of a lot: cheering at the victories and wins; picking up his head after the losses; and the restraining of myself when I saw him fly like Superman across the field to get a flag (that he didn’t capture) and ended up falling flat on his face. He had some cuts and swelling after that.

That was last week. The week prior, he scored his first touchdown.

He’s the littlest on his team. The smallest bullet. He can run fast. He loves to play.

So the fable The Game teaches us about the little flying squirrel who goes to the animals and asks them if he can play on their team. He is ridiculed and greeted with laughter from the Bear Chief. He tells him, “You are too little to play on our team. We are big and strong and we do not need help from creatures like you.”

After some bouts of sadness at the rejection, the flying squirrel meets the hawk and the falcon and they lift up his wings and help him realize he can play with the birds. And so he does. He played hard and brought the team to victory, and left the animals and the Bear Chief to shame despite their beating of the drums and bragging confidently about winning the game.

We read Proverbs 16:18 which says: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”

The Bible calls bragging is pride and we see that boasting and bragging often bring destruction and failure.

When our son started the flag football league back in October, he was anxious and nervous. We reminded him that there would be bigger boys than him, boys that had played flag-football before and thus would be more in tune with what to do and how to play. It was evident that our son would be the smallest player, but just as we knew that much to be true, we reminded him that he was made just as God intended him to be. He has everything he needs to serve the Lord.

So how does flag football fit into a kingdom purpose?

Our son found out that he was vulnerable. He realized he needed more than what his body can provide: endurance and courage. The game instilled fear and anxiety, just like life does. He needed to ask God to help him to be strong, for his own strength alone wasn’t enough– as fiery as he was, as energetic and agile, and as swift and fleeting as his feet allowed him to run, he needed God’s strength.

I cannot begin to tell you that last week when I saw him fall flat on his face, I shuddered at the thought that something grievous was about to take place. All his teammates surrounded him. The coach checked him out, as did the first-aid crew. When he rose up to his feet, everyone applauded. He was fine. He got back in the game, shook it off, and gave it his all again. At the end of the game, even though his team lost by one touchdown on this, their last game, it was a memorable way to close the season. He left with a half dollar coin given to him by the referee and a pat on the back and some high fives, not to mention some aches. Badges of honor.

Coming into the season, we didn’t expect our son to get all the victories for the team, nor did we expect him to gain notoriety. We certainly don’t expect him to be a quarterback someday, nor are we grooming him to pursue an early start for a potential NFL career. Chief Bear in the fable The Game teaches us that not all leaders are good. But what we do know is that as believers, we need to seek the guidance of God in all decision making in order to exalt Christ first and foremost, and leading a life in Him will surely bring us confidence, wisdom, and bravery, even though we may be a little different from the rest of the pack.

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Originally published 11-21-2013