Growing up I had many friends that loved playing football. I had a Dad who watched it religiously. Even with my Mother being a nurse and hating football (because it was "too dangerous"), it was bound to happen that I would start playing.
So there I was, a big 8th grader, ready to play in my first tackle football league.
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| It was something like this... |
I went to the try outs and was drafted to the my cousins team. Unfortunately it also happened to be the 2nd worse team in the league according to many of the other players.
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| Darn... |
Oh well, I was still ready to play! It was our second game. We lost our first one horribly, so this would be our redemption game(or so I thought). It also was the first game that my Mother came to watch me play. I wasn't the biggest player on our team, but I definitely thought I was. And now I'm going to now try to paint you a picture of what happened in this game....
The Dixie College stadium had the smell of freshly cut grass in the air and the green stains from it were on my cleats. I was surrounded by the blinding flood lights of the stadium. They lite the way for the opponent to tromp to the field goal, which was done many times. There I was, on the kick off receiving team thinking, "I got this." It was my job to block for our 4 foot nothing receiver. Was I scared? Not even little. Blocking on kick-off receive was something I had much practice in at our first game.
Darn.
The opposing teams kicker seemed as if he was a giant. At least 6'7'' compared to my measly 5'7'' and guess who got to block him?
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| This Guy. |
Not only was his size intimidating, but the fact that he had a prosthetic leg was also very intimidating. But I had something to prove. I was no wimp. "I got this." I thought. All I remember was this giant, running towards me, then waking up in my bed the next day. That's it. I was filled in by my Mother that I received a concussion last night in the game and that I would not be playing football anymore.
Darn.
But what I also found out from the doctor is that I didn't necessarily receive this concussion because I was hit so hard.  |
| Who would have thought this thing could cause so much damage? |
It was because my helmet was so loose that it did not protect me properly. It was bound to happen because I didn't have the right equipment.
Thinking about this story in my life made me think about how much the Book of Mormon plays a roll in the lives of many people including myself. It truly keeps us safe and sound even when the world has massive trials running full speed and fixing to tackle us.
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
Satan is a liar. He will try to make you think differently then what the scriptures testify of. He will always try to make you miserable. We need to use the right equipment. That's what the scriptures are. They're the stuff that is going to keep us safe when our trials seem like giant football players running towards us at full speed.
"...and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction."
Nephi is trying to teach us that even when we think we are weak we have far more power over the adversary when we use the scriptures.
So whats stopping you from recieving more safety?
What is stopping us from reading the scriptures? Whatever it is, its not important. Its my humble prayer that we might read them every single day. From that I can promise you protection and guidance. Nephi promises that we will never "perish". What more could you want. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know it testifies of Christ. I feel the Spirit every time I read it. You can too.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
