Relentless Pursuit

The Playbook Of Our Lives

Today is Superbowl Sunday and if any of you are fans of sports, you’ll most likely be watching the NFL championship between the Bengals and the Rams. Typically, within sports there are different playbooks that coaches, coordinators and teammates all have to make sure they are on the same page with one another when a play is called. Growing up, I played basketball and we had different playbooks that we used or changed according to the team we would be playing that week. From defenses like 2-3 zone, man to man, or 1-3-1 zone we would change up not only within the game but sometimes each new possession the other team had. 

I say all this to give an illustration of how important a playbook is not only for the individuals on each team but also for others watching the game. This is the same for our lives outside of sports and how we relate our own plans for our lives. What happens if God has a playbook for our lives and we have our own, yet they don’t match up… then what? If we think about it from an athletes’ perspective we would say, there’s no way anything will go right and the entire game will be ruined. Yet, what if this is the reality for our own lives. We have our own playbook for life and according to the cultural social clock we believe that we have to graduate in 4 years or less, get married in our mid twenties, have children by a certain age, buy a home or even finally make it to our dream job. All of these expectations for our life aren’t necessarily bad or wrong but they can be if we believe there’s only one way to get there. 

We all have a playbook in our head but sometimes God has a different playbook. Or, God is in the same playbook yet on a different page. Or, maybe we’re hyper focused on the offensive when God is calling us to focus on the defense. The whole point is that as humans we at times can be so focused on the idealization of the future that we forget what God is providing for us in the here and now. The question now is… how can we live out trying our best to be in congruence with God in his plan for our life? We can be reminded daily that God is sovereign over all things of the earth despite our plans being thwarted by the reality of this life. Playbooks are necessary to conquer that everyone has communicated fully and properly, yet our understanding of God’s playbook for our lives isn’t drawn out on paper for us. Daily surrendering our lives and discernment through scripture, prayer, meditation and fellowship can help lead us to the right playbook, page and play that the Lord is calling us to.