James finally understood. He finally understood what it meant. He had heard it before. He had even read it before, if you could believe that. It was just one little scripture, but now James saw how it could change his whole like.
He lived a typical suburban life. He was married with two small children, He had a good job, and a nice home. He played golf on the weekends, and his family attended church on Sundays. They did all of the things that you were supposed to do. James considered his life a failure though, because he had never achieved his biggest career goal. What was his biggest career goal? To play football in the NFL. Yep.
Growing up, James’ whole life had been sports, especially football. From the time he was ten, he fell in love with it. There was something about being out there on the field, in the heat of the action, that just drew him in.
Maybe he saw it as an escape from his life at home. He was the oldest of seven kids. His mom had basically ignored him. She was always busy with his younger brothers and sisters. His dad was always on his case. He could never do anything right. Never.
Or maybe it was because of school. He hated school. It was so boring. He felt that all of his classes were a waste of time. He couldn’t see how they would help him in the real world. Plus, they weren’t even challenging for him. He made good grades without putting in much effort.
Sports though, that was it for him. The challenge. The competition. Plus, he was good. Good, he was the best athlete in the school. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do. Football though was his true love. He was a running back. His senior year he was named to the All-State Football Team, and he was runner-up in voting for Mr. Football.
He received a lot of scholarship offers for colleges all over the country. He eventually decided on Wichita State University. He felt good. A full ride scholarship. Now he’d really be able to show the world what he could do.
His four years in college passed quickly. He was a two-time All-American, and was now preparing to enter the draft. He would also be getting married to his college sweetheart. Things were going perfectly, but for some reason, though, James felt that something was missing. He just didn’t know what it was. Then disaster struck.
As he was preparing for the NFL Combine, which is an invitation-only event where the top college football players demonstrate their skills to NFL scouts, coaches and general managers, he suffered a career ending knee injury. That was it. No more football. Just like that, it was all over. It was a devastating blow to James. It took quite a bit of time, but he eventually recovered. It seemed that now he would have to change his whole life focus.
He still married his college sweatheart, Jennie, and he was hired at Boeing in HR Management. From the outside, it seemed like he still had a perfect life, even without football. Fifteen months later, they had their first child, and then twelve months after that, they had their second. Life was good, or at least it should have been.
James still felt like a failure. He was tired. He was tired of feeling like a failure. He was tired of feeling like his life didn’t measure up. He actually should have spoken to someone about what he was feeling, but he didn’t. He kept it all to himself. He didn’t even tell his wife. Everyday, he put on a show, pretending that everything with him was fine.
It was at church one day. That’s when it all came together. James and his family attended church because, at least to James, that’s what you did.
As a kid, his family went to church, and now, it was just habit. Jennie really got into Sunday School, and Bible Study, and the kids sang in the Children’s Choir, but James didn’t have time for all of that stuff. He remembered that in college, at the suggestion of a friend, he went to a couple of meetings for Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It was ok, but it wasn’t his thing. It was there though, that he first heard about the scripture. It was Matthew 11:28. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” The leader spoke on this scripture, but James didn’t really understand what it meant, and after the meeting was over, he sort of put it out of his head.
Now ten years later, here it was again, and now it was so clear. It was just what he was looking for. Jesus is inviting anyone who is feeling tired and burdened to come to him for rest. The pastor explained that Jesus was talking about spiritual rest. When you follow Christ, he will give you peace. The weight of trying to live up to worldly expectations is removed if you follow Christ.That was the moment his whole life was changed. He committed his life to Christ, and now, through good times, or times of trials and tribulations James, along with his family, live a life dedicated to Christ.