A Modern Day David vs Goliath?                                     

TEBOW.  A MAN AFTER GODS OWN HEART!

by Cory Lehman

When you think of football quarterbacks, you think of Troy Aikman, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, John Elway, Steve Young, and of course Joe Montana!  But Tim Tebow? Tim, or should I say “Tebowing”, isn’t quite known for being a great quarterback.  In fact a lot of people were even questioning if he’s a quarterback at all.  Should he be in the NFL, playing with the best of them?  Let me ask you this, should have David been the king of Israel?  You see, when the Lord sent Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem to anoint one of his sons to be king, right away Samuel went to the brother that looked the strongest.  But the Lord told to Samuel in 1 Samuel 16:7 “Do no consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at things that the man looks at.  The man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”  Tebow’s stats don’t show too much for him looking like quarterback, while David’s appearance didn’t show too much for him looking like a king.  But the Lord chose them, why? Because He was looking for a man going after Gods own heart!  One who will deliberately put God first above everything else, who keeps his heart pure and devoted to God, a man who will rule the kingdom according to God’s will.  David and Tim Tebow both represent these rules to a “T”, David never put anyone first before God.  At every interview, every touchdown, every opportunity he can, we see Tim Tebow giving glory to God.  Neither one of them took the glory for them selves, they don’t look for absolute power. In football on the field, the quarterback is the one who calls the shots, who makes the plays happen, It would seem to me that the quarterback could have also been considered a “king” in David’s years.

When David heard about Goliath, David said to Saul “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; I’ll go and fight” But Saul just down-played him saying “You are only a boy” since David was the youngest of the rest of the brothers. David said “I keep my fathers sheep, and when a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep, I went after it and rescued the sheep from it’s mouth, and when the lion or bear turned on me, I killed it. I have killed both the lion and the bear.  Goliath will be like one of them.”  So David was saying that he was a fighter, he didn’t quit, he had a job to do and he made sure of it.  In the same sense Tebow was also the youngest of his other siblings, and to top it off he’s also known as the “miracle baby”.  While pregnant with Tim, Pam Tebow (Tim’s mother) entered into a coma after she contracted amoebic dysentery, an infection of the intestine caused by a parasite found in a contaminated food or drink.  The treatment for this required strong medications which the doctors told her would cause irreversible damage to Tim. They advised her to get an abortion because if she didn’t it Tim would suffer from devastating disabilities.  Pam refused the highly suggested abortion, and lived by her Christian faith.  As we all know by now, it’s pretty obvious that Tim Tebow does not suffer with physical disabilities. Tim fought for his life in his Mothers womb. Even before birth Tim wouldn’t give up.  Just like all of us, Tim had a God given plan and destiny for his life before he was born, and just like David fought the lion and the bear because he had a job to do, Tim Tebow fought in his mothers womb because he had a job to do! 

Beings a Christian isn’t easy as you can see from Tim Tebow’s stand point.  Ever since he came into prominence he’s been made fun of, laughed at, mocked, and even criticized;  not only by his Rivals, but even by his own teammates.  It just goes to show that when you love something, and you chase after it, not everyone is going to celebrate with you. Even some of the closest people to you will try and discourage you, get you off track, tell you lies and try to make you feel really dumb. They’ll challenge you, and may even try to get you to compromise your values; and because they’re too weak to follow their own dreams, they’ll do everything they can to discourage yours. That’s where the saying applies that states; “Talk sense to a fool, and he calls you foolish.” That’s one of the ways the enemy comes in to test you because anytime you make a commitment to something, it will be tested. The enemy will do everything possible to counterfeit what you’re suppose to be doing.  Joseph in Genesis had a dream that he would have political power, and his brothers hated him for it.  But Joseph never doubted his dream. He kept on dreaming and went from slave boy to Prime Minister.  Be persistent like Joseph was. Keep on dreaming.  Richard Bach wrote a story about a soaring seagull, which was turned down by 18 different publishers, but he never gave up because he knew it was a good book.  Finally in 1970 it was published and within the first 5 years it had sold more than 7 million copies. Seven million copies after being rejected 18 times!  The opinion of others has nothing to do with your success.  You want to be the best athlete so people will notice you?  But that kind of power is going to fail you, because one day you’re not going to be the most talented, the strongest, or the best at it. It’s going to fail you and let you down. Tebow sure isn’t the best quarterback in the league, but he’s ok with that, because of what he’s doing and who he is representing, He’s got God’s grace which is carrying him through the play offs, and even if he doesn’t win, he still wins because he has courage in his faith, and if you can have enough courage to look past what’s wrong to see the value of what’s right, win or lose, you win! It’s your attitude, NOT your achievements, that gives you true happiness. The satisfaction from achievement is only momentary.  And this is what strikes me so much about Tim Tebow, he does this so well.  I was watching his interview after just recently beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime in a playoff game. Ok, for anyone who knows anything about football, a playoff game is a really big deal.  So to win in overtime, especially if you’re expected to lose, that’s HUGE.  But what struck me about Tim during his interview was when he said: “The real win, at least I would say for today, is being able to comfort a girl who has gone through 73 surgeries before the game, and get a chance to go hang out with her now, and that’s the biggest win of the day, so they’re both exciting, but that’s what I’m even more proud of.” That’s a true example of not looking for a blessing, but looking to be one!  Develop a great attitude and seek to be inspired!

Is God using Tim Tebow as a sign?  This quarterback was literally a no-body if you regard the stats in the NFL. Starting off the season rough with a record of 2-5, Tim Tebow led the Denver Broncos on a 6 game winning streak which just put them in the payoffs!  From then on, they lost the rest of their games.  Then, in the first game of the play offs, they face off against the Defending AFC champions the Pittsburgh Steelers.  All bets were against Tebow and the Denver Broncos for winning this game.  But Tim Tebow didn’t just win the game, he broke records, Tebow’s QBR (quarterback rating) was the highest ever in any playoff game, the 80 yard touchdown pass in over time to win the game is the longest in post season overtime in history, He’s the only quarterback to complete three 50 yard passes in a playoff game. No one has ever averaged more yards per completion than he did (31.6), He’s the third quarterback to throw for 300 plus yards with no picks and run for a touchdown in a playoff game! Not to mention he threw for a total of 316 yards; 10 completions for a total average yards completion of 31.6 yards!  This is relevant to his favorite scripture in the Bible, which  is John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Is that just a big “coincidence” or Is God using this as a sign saying, “believe in Me.”  I say believe in God and have faith. We all have a lot of faith. Think about it, You go to a doctor whose name you can’t pronounce. He gives you a prescription you cannot read.  You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen. They give you the medicine you do not understand, and yet you take it? But you can’t have faith in God? Ok, so how about Dermaryius Thomas, the gentleman who caught the 80 yard pass from Tebow in overtime to win the game.  He was born on December 25th!  Still not convinced? Ok, remember that young girl that had 73 surgeries before the game that he talked to? Keep in mind Tim Tebow did this BEFORE the game, so check out this scripture, Deuteronomy 15:10 “Give generously to Him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work in everything you put your hand to”  Hmmm. Isn’t this relevant to him being a quarterback; having to use his hand to throw the ball and actually braking records in that game with his passing yards! Tim Tebow did this BEFORE the game, and it just so happened that his hand was blessed with a perfect record breaking game!