Jayden Daniels Leads Historic Playoff Win, Credits Faith in God
The Washington Commanders have not won a playoff game in 20 years until Sunday night when they secured a victory with a doinked field goal in the last 3 seconds of game. The once bemoaned fans finally have something to cheer about as their team selected a true leader to take the helm as a rookie quarterback this year in Jayden Daniels from LSU.
With that win he became the first rookie in NFL history to lead his team in passing and rushing yards in a victory in a playoff game! In his post game interview NBC asked him how he’s able to stay so calm under pressure, “Trust in the Lord God,” he answered. “There’s nothing I should worry about, man, put all my worries on Him and He’ll take care of the rest.”
Daniels often refers to the Lord in his post game interviews and it seems that more and more players are finding their voice in being bold publicly about their faith. Often as believers we can feel intimidated by culture and it can cause us to shrink back from our faith publicly. But these young players are showing the world what boldness looks like, but also that Jesus truly is the key to their success. It’s not lip service to their faith, their faith actually works!
I don’t know about you, but when ordinary people do extraordinary things, I honestly want to know how they do it. Are there things they are doing that I can apply in my own life? Football is a microcosm of life, however it’s ramped up into life on the extreme edge! Millions of people watching, millions of dollars at stake, and people’s lives are literally on the line. That is a lot of pressure for a 24 year old man, and for him to say there is nothing that he should worry about, that is extra-ordinary! When someone man make’s bold claims such as, “There’s nothing I should worry about, man, put all my worries on Him and He’ll take care of the rest”, for most people it might sound impossible. And to be honest, without Jesus it pretty much is impossible. We’ve all been overtaken by worries and fears, but what if God takes your worries and fears and you take His peace instead? After all, Jesus is called the Prince of Peace.
He’s also the great burden bearer. 1 Peter 5:7 speaks of casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. In the previous verse, it states, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you”. How does it say to humble yourself? One of the ways is to cast your anxieties upon God! When we feel that it is up to us to save ourselves, pride has taken control and God is pushed aside. However, when we give our cares to Him, He exalts us at the proper time, and for Jayden Daniels, Sunday night was one of those times.
When the NBC reporter asked his veteran teammate 10 years his senior how he felt being led by this young man, Bobby Wagner’s first comment was that Jayden was humble. That spoke volumes.
This is a time where people are filled with anxiety more than ever as problems are being magnified all over by the media. Let’s humble ourselves, cast our cares upon God and then watch Him show up and show out in our lives! As Jayden said, “Trust in God, and He will take care of the rest!”
