The NFL is a giant machine with fans flocking to stadiums and passionately turning their TVs on every week to watch their favorite sport. We’re used to seeing big hits, tough players, and major injuries.
We know the sport continues to evolve and the effort to make the game safer has caused the league to adjust their rules and style of play.
There has been a raised awareness and a push to lessen the risk of players getting injured - especially from concussions. During the upcoming season, we’re expected to see some drastic changes when it comes to players initiating contact and the type of collisions allowed.
According to ProFootballTalk.com (PFT), one new rule prohibits players from lowering the helmet to initiate contact. At the same time, the unnecessary roughness rule has been altered to include all ramming, butting, or spearing with any part of the helmet.
PFT says, “The only limitation being 'incidental' helmet contact while performing 'conventional' blocking and tackling maneuvers.”
So are they still playing football? How do they even hit? Will every player be ejected by the end of the game?
Mike Florio (PFT writer) explains how no one really knows for sure what these rules mean or how they will be officiated by the refs. Players are going to have to learn to play differently and coaches are going to have to train their teams to adjust to these changes.
All of this results in major confusion for everyone involved and they’re trying to figure out what to do and how to respond.
Oftentimes in life, we encounter changes to our circumstances...or altered plans...or periods of waiting that force us to choose how to respond.
We also face difficult decisions that cause us to wonder what we should do next. Questions and worry consume us because we're unclear about the move we need to make.
Although these situations can lead to major confusion, thankfully, as followers of Jesus, we don’t have to allow the uncertainty to cause us to worry and fear.
Things might not make perfect sense to us at the moment, and we don't know what God is doing behind the scenes, but we can be confident that He'll lead us and make the right path known.
The Bible gives us this hope in Psalm 32:8 (NLT): "The Lord says, 'I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.'”
As we trust God’s guidance, we can have clarity in the uncertainty and waiting. The confusion comes when we try to figure things out in our limited understanding or when we're filled with doubt.
However, we find peace when we rely on God to help us make wise decisions according to His will and wait on His promptings to show us what to do next. He wants to point us in the right direction, but we must seek Him in prayer, listen to Him, and wait for Him.
The confusion will go away when we cling to His character and place our faith in His ability to clarify what steps He wants us to take, “for God is not a God of confusion but of peace…” (1 Corinthians 14:33 - ESV).
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can unpack that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I confess to getting confused when trying to figure things out on my own apart from You. I pray that I would fully trust You to show me the way You want me to go and the right decisions to make according to Your will. I desire to live in peace and clarity as I follow You on the best path. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.
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