What Russell Wilson teaches us about "giving God the glory"

It thrills me to no end to have Allison Hendrix on the blog today.  Allison is a popular blogger at The House of Hendrix, where she so beautifully writes about "where joy, imperfection, and grace abound."  I'm so excited to have my precious friend sharing her heart of gold with us today.

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By Allison Hendrix

I was ready for my Green Bay Packers to defeat the Seattle Seahawks, a victory that would take them to the Superbowl.

I wore my #12 jersey, my baseball cap, my green and gold chevron socks, and even had my family drinking from yellow tumblers, which read “Go Pack Go”.

This was their time.

The Packers overcame several injuries and dominated the entire game…until the 2-minute warning.

My heart panicked as the momentum of the game shifted. It became clear the Seahawks had a shot to overturn the outcome of this game. This couldn’t be happening.

As I digested the reality of a potential Packers loss, only one thing made it a little easier.

I was absolutely certain the Seahawks quarterback would give God the glory.

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Two months prior to this game, I tucked my 12-year-old daughter into bed before her cross-country district meet. We prayed,

“And lastly Lord, let her run for Your Glory, and your glory alone.”

As I cracked her bedroom door and turned to leave, her voice whispered, “Mama, wait. Tell me again what it means to run for God’s glory?”

My heart danced that she so deeply sought to understand.

This time I explained it a bit differently:

“God has gifted you in very specific ways. You have an incredible natural talent and a fierce determination, which has made you do quite well this season.

To run for His glory does not mean, don’t try to win. The Bible even says:

I continued,

"To run for His glory begins with a grateful heart. When you run tomorrow, run thankful for your healthy legs, your coach, and the opportunity to compete in this meet.

Let your race be an act of worship speaking ‘I’m using what You have equipped me with to the very best of my ability’. Then run with joy, and run to win.

But here’s the thing sweetheart, to run for His glory means that you strive to win so that you can lay that prize at the feet of Jesus. It is an offering back to your Maker. It is a way of saying, 'May this race somehow point others back to You. May it reflect Your glory, not mine.'

But the glory is not about the achievement. Remember when Katlyn was having a tough race and her knee just wasn’t cooperating? Remember what she did? She decided to pray for the girl running in front of her. Katlyn didn’t technically win that race, but she reflected His Goodness by praying for a total stranger, one of her competitors nonetheless. She ran that race for His glory.”

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So as the Seahawks defeated my Green Bay Packers in overtime last night, I called my children into the room. I had full confidence in how this victory was going to play out.

We watched Russell Wilson, the Seattle Quarterback, use this win to point others to God. He didn’t kiss his biceps or claim to be #1. He pointed to heaven and after congratulating the other team for a well-battled game, he knelt with several teammates, humbling himself on a field of confetti. As cameras captured every movement, they prayed, something they do win or lose.

And when this victorious quarterback approached the microphone on the field to receive his prize in front of millions of viewers with tears streaming down his cheeks, his first public words were “God is good all of the time.”

To God be the Glory.

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