by Jeremy Brown

Many of us understand that the basic job of the quarterback is to get the ball down field as quickly as possible utilizing the many talented players he has on the field. We have seen that some quarterbacks are passers while others like to scramble or run to pick up a couple of yards. It is a rare thing for a quarterback to be able to scramble and gain positive yards to carry the team. That is why many of our greatest quarterbacks are excellent pocket passers. When the pressure hits they step into the protection of their offensive linemen and get the ball down the field in the most efficient way as opposed to trying to carry the weight of the team on their two legs to scramble for a few yards. The quarterback has pressure coming from the defensive linemen from all angles, not just straight ahead; and he has to determine if he will scramble for just a few yards or step into his protection for a possible twenty-plus yards gain. In life, we are the quarterback and life’s problems are relentless like a few 300 pound defensive linemen coming at us from all angles!

As the quarterback of our lives, we have to decide if we will step into the protection of God or try and scramble to carry life’s problems on our own two feet (Deuteronomy 31:6). God has promised us throughout the New and Old Testaments that He will not leave us nor forsake us, yet many of us seem to not trust that scripture by constantly carrying life’s problems on our own two feet. We seem to think God cannot help us; we’ll do it all by ourselves. When we try to carry life’s problems on our own two feet it leads to the depression, anxiety, and other unnecessary stresses that many individuals in our society battle with today. Life’s problems are way too much for us human beings to bear on our own (Luke 12:7).

Our world is currently gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, and this should reinforce our belief in God’s protection. The governments of the world have failed during this pandemic. All of these governments have teams of epidemiologists, doctors, scientists, etc., who plan for situations like this, yet all were caught flatfooted. Many people around the world are panicked and/or frightened because once again man’s governments have failed to save them (us). This isn’t a knock on any particular government, but merely another example of man deciding to carry problems on his own two feet instead of stepping into the protection of God. Let’s take a moment to think about the COVID-19, there’s no vaccination available yet (takes 3-5 years to create a vaccine according to the Centers for Disease Control), and we don’t yet fully understand exactly how this virus affects us or how to truly stop the spread of it. We have to take to heart what God says about the birds of the air; they aren’t panicked or full of anxiety trying to figure out where their next meal will come from. God says if the birds don’t have anxiety or worry, why should those who are created in His image worry about Him keeping His word?! (Matthew 6:26-27).

We have to STEP INTO THE PROTECTION OF GOD and ask Him to help us with life’s problems or we will continue to have more failures than success (Matthew 7:7).