God is not limited. Neither in understanding nor ability. He knows us, and he loves us.
He is the Good Shepherd who will leave the 99 to find the one and bring him home. But, as we said, God is not limited.
He doesn’t even have to leave his flock to find the one if He doesn’t see fit. Sometimes, the Father sends us His messengers, and for reasons only He knows.
God can speak through us.
The question is, will we let Him?
As a National Football League player, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr knows how important it is to be obedient.
As an athlete, the man values discipline and true sportsmanship. But, aside from being a known player in NFL, he is also a proud believer in God.
When Derek signed the most significant contract in NFL history in June of 2016, everyone wanted to know what he would do with all the money he received.
His $125 million contract is excellent, but what was more incredible was his reply to the question thrown at him.
“The first thing I’ll do is pay my tithe like I have since I was in college, giving $700 on a scholarship check,” Derek told CBS Sports.
“That won’t change. I’ll do that.”
Obedience to God has always been top priority.
The way Derek responded to how he’d spend his money says so much about his heart for following God and being obedient to His will.
One of the most important teachings regarding obedience is that a person obeys God by giving his tithes.
Tithing is only one of the ways this man is carrying out his obedience to the Father.
He makes sure he obeys Him every day of his life, whether doing ordinary things or when he is in the field and playing.
Apart from this, he also knows that it is important to listen to God’s voice through His Holy Spirit.
Derek is never shy in his faith.
If anything, he makes sure that people know him as a man of God.
Derek made a pact with God.
In a video uploaded on YouTube by Play4Him, Derek shared that he made a pact with God and committed to seeking Him every day of his life.
That pact includes and is carried forth by being obedient to His will.
“Seek the face of the Father to see what he wants you to do—every single day,” the NFL player recalled what his friend Matty Montgomery told him.
One particular day in church, God came calling for Derek.
Derek got a message in church.
In the interview, he also mentioned that he even had to stop a pastor during the altar call because of a “strong message” he received through the Holy Spirit.
He heard the Holy Spirit plain as day: “Someone in here is going to commit suicide unless you say something.”
He hesitated because doing what he thought was the right thing to do would mean stopping a congregation of around 300 people to deliver a message regarding someone in the audience wanting to end their life.
Not exactly “family-friendly” stuff. But isn’t that what church is truly for? Christ didn’t come for the clean.
He came to do the cleaning.
A man in the congregation cried out.
Sobbing and pointing to himself, the man stepped forward. Derek approached him, and embraced him.
“I told him how much Jesus loved him, how much I loved him, how much of a plan God has for his life.”
When he looked up from their emotional embrace, he saw that his brother was also in a hug and praying with another young man.
The strangers’ responses confirmed what the Holy Spirit told him.
Derek’s faith grew even stronger.
After that, the NFL star thought the Holy Spirit was finished with him, but he was wrong.
Just as he was walking back to his car, another man approached him and told him that he was also planning to commit suicide that night, but was moved by Derek’s message.
Derek hugged him too, and relayed powerful love of the spirit flowing through him, and encouraged the man in every way to keep on living.
The experience was unprecedented for everyone involved.
Derek said that though the experience completely drained him in a way he’d never been drained before (keep in mind he’s a pro athlete), it was “the best feeling ever.”
He knows it all happened according to God’s will because he said “yes” to being obedient to God.
“That is what your job is, be obedient and He will get the glory for it,” the athlete said.
Hear more about this remarkable memory in Derek’s own words in the video below!
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