“Don’t be worried or afraid.
I give you a peace that this world can’t give." ~ John
14:27
Robert loved basketball. Just two months ago he’d made Varsity and he
couldn’t wait to don a ‘Cougar’ jersey. Making
the team was the single most exciting moment of his life. He’d never imagined life without basketball .
. . until the accident that stole his future.
It’d
been nearly 6 weeks since the potentially fatal car crash that injured his spine
- T8 to be exact. Dr. Phelps said he was
lucky; T8 paraplegics use manual wheelchair and drive cars with hand
controls. All Robby remembered was that
his body was permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Life sucked!
Coach
Henderson had visited him in the hospital and asked Robby to consider remaining
on the team as an assistant coach, statistician, water boy, wherever needed. Robby hesitated at first; he hated pity. So Coach upped the ante – he could suit up
and join other teammates on the bench.
When
he wasn’t doing Coach’s errands, Robby shot free throws; hundreds of them every
night. He’d led the team in free-throws
before the crash. Some adjustments were
needed as the injury had weakened his stomach muscles too.
Late
in the final game of the season, and down by a single point the Cougar’s
all-conference point guard stole the ball and drove to the basket on a
breakaway. Jack was chased from behind
by an opponent whose clumsy attempt to swat the ball away, shoved Jack
awkwardly into the wall behind the basket just as time expired. A fractured left humerus meant Jack was in no
condition to shoot free-throws.
Coach looked down the bench.
“Robby,” he shouted, “Get out there and win this one for us!”
Robby was stunned; he wasn’t mentally prepared, he hadn’t played in a
real game since last year. Now he was
being called on to shoot the two most important shots of the season.
Bu
this whole ordeal was already making him a better person. People might have cracked jokes about his place
on the bench, but Robby had ignored them. His disability gave him the ability face
tougher challenges with poise and confidence.
It doesn’t matter how the game ended.
The real story is about a Coach whose belief in a young man empowered
him to believe in himself.
The
Holy Spirit gives us power too. Its
presence in our lives pardons, perfects and converts us. The Holy Spirit gives us peace – an
everlasting peace that comes from being right with God.
Holy Spirit, grow within us and bless others
through us. Give us an inner peace that frees
us from needing to prove ourselves and enables us to let go of the pride,
prejudice, and hatred that destroys peace. Amen
