Stadium of Life
Surrounded by 70,000 screaming fans, it’s hard for any one person to be heard.
But PICTURE Yourself in an American football stadium (pre-Covid).
You’re sitting alone in your seat.
You can feel the energy.
You can hear the announcer speaking from the booth above.
You can smell the peanuts and popcorn.
You can look out on the field.
And watching what’s happening out there might be important....and listening to what’s being said over the PA system might be important.
But this is what I believe to be DEFINITELY important:
the person sitting directly beside you
the person sitting beside you to the other side
the person sitting behind you
the person sitting in front of you.
Those people are important. And have real needs to be loved and cared for.
Maybe they’re not any more or less important than the other 69,995 people in that stadium. And it’s unlikely those people closest to you are “more important” than the estimated 7,530,000,000 others with whom-- as of 2019-- we share this planet.
That’s not the point, though.
How many people would hear the cry for help from one of these 4 people?
More importantly, how many would respond?
People two sections over wouldn’t know who they are or what they need.
Those across the stadium wouldn’t even have a clue that these folks even existed unless two ended up smooching on the Kiss Cam.
It’s a big, scary world in this stadium called life.
But instead of feeling lost and insignificant as a man or woman alone in the crowd of billions-- a common feeling being one among many-- I’d humbly like to ask you to consider that God has you in a place of impact right where you are.
He may not be calling you to be the announcer or a player on the field.
And as much as a cold beverage and salty fresh-roasted peanuts can go down smoothly (especially together), God is probably also not calling on you to call out your refreshment order to the beer-and-peanuts man.
Shoot, while you may get the lucky halftime call to have a chance to punt, pass and kick the ball in a contest to win a brand new car…
...the call you’ll be most rewarded for answering is the call for help from one of those whom God has placed RIGHT NEXT TO YOU.
Somehow and some way, God knows exactly who you are, where you are and what’s going on in your life right now. I believe He is calling you today to be the best you that you can possibly be....
Yes, God has you in the exact right place, in the exact right stadium, in the exact right seat...and at the exact right time right now.
This does not mean all your circumstances are ideal. It means your opportunity to love and influence others for the good is nonetheless directly around you right now.
Will you reach out a hand and take theirs?
Will you reach out a hand and give yours?
God Bless You,
Coach Brian Williams
P.S. The “stadium” analogy was first written as part of Chapter 2 in my new book Made to Change the World. I invite you to grab a seat and grab your copy today.
P.P.S. I purposefully didn’t say whether the people closest to you in the stadium were strangers or known to you. It could be your spouse, parents, children, brothers and sisters, neighbors or co-workers with whom you frequently interact… or it could be a complete stranger whose life is bettered forever because you loved them in the way God designed you to love.