With the Super Bowl just happening and the football season ending it has been quite an adventure. I am not much of a sports follower, but I do enjoy the end of the playoffs and super bowl Sunday (mainly to eat good food).

As I was watching some of the games this year, a thought occurred to me that I think can be revolutionary to our spiritual life. You see, as I observed the defensive strategy for all teams, they tend to be more concerned about stripping the ball from the player’s hands even more than tackling them to the ground. In fact, defensive teams are taught to always try to strip the ball from the player while they are taking them down as to cause a fumble. They know that if they can get the ball out of the player’s hands there is a good chance they can recover the ball and cause a turnover.

I think our defensive opponent, the enemy against us, tries to follow the same tactic. He wants to strip us of all the things God wants us to hold near and dear. We know this because the Apostle Peter brought it to our attention thousands of years ago.

1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Jesus also tells us about this challenge we all face:

John 10:10 (NIV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Our enemy wants to steal the dreams, desires, and destiny you and I have. And he is relentless in his pursuit of it. He is constantly trying to strip them out of our hands and cause a turnover in our future. In fact, he is more interested in causing you to fumble than he is in taking you down. What I mean by that is, he works on discouraging you more than deceiving you. Most people that are followers of Christ don’t necessarily struggle with a belief in God, they are not considering being atheist. Rather their struggle is being discouraged, they easily fumble the purpose and promises of God from their heart. And in doing so they are missing out on gaining spiritual yardage in their life. They are not turning their back on God by being deceived, rather, they are turning their attention on their fears by being discouraged.

So how do we, as followers of Christ, keep ourselves guarded against being stripped of God’s purposes?

1) Hold The Promises of God Tightly

Every football player knows that when you get the ball you hold on for dear life. You tuck it in as close as you can to your body to secure it from being stripped. In the same way, we have to learn how to keep God’s promises close to our heart and not give up on them even when things don’t appear to be going as planned. Remember, we are to walk by faith and not by sight as Paul reminds us all in his writing of first Corinthians.

2) Surround Yourself With Blockers

One of the best ways to help ensure you don’t get tackled is to surround yourself with people that will block the enemy from you. This means we need to surround ourselves with life-giving people who will be there for us. We were created for community and we operate best in community. It’s vital that you have relationships in your life that will help you, inspire you, challenge you, and encourage you. They are the blockers in your life that help you move down the field.

3) Be Focused On The Goal Not Your Problems

You can’t score points if you’re only trying not to get tackled. The goal of football is to get the ball in the end zone, not to simply survive from being hurt. If we are only focused on playing it safe we’ll never reach our potential. You have to keep your eyes on the prize as you move down the field of life. Don’t worry about the tacklers and the enemy, keep moving forward. Where your focus goes your energy flows.