The past two days have been a whirlwind in the sports world. At 3:10pm local time yesterday (Wednesday), the Milwaukee Bucks were scheduled to tip-off against the Orlando Magic in game five of the Eastern conference playoffs.
That didn't happen.
Instead, the team sparked a ripple effect, causing the majority of sports to be put off last night in a stand against police brutality against black people.
I'll be the first to say that this topic isn't a comfortable one in the least. For hours, I wrote and rewrote scripts trying to make sure I was saying the right thing.
There is no right thing to say. That's why professional athletes DID what they did. They are hoping their actions speak far louder than their words.
And as I saw, the world listened. NBA TV ran wall-to-wall coverage with incredible commentary.
Chris Webber shed tears on national television.
To say it was a powerful day in sports... would be an understatement.
Those WNBA players, those NBA players and MLB players displayed a kind of bravery that may be new to most people. They risked their jobs, their paycheck and their livlihood to stand up for what was right.
Annie used a story about Gideon today in day 20. If you don't know the story of Gideon, here is Annie's synopsis:
An angel of the Lord appeared and said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12 NIV). This statement surprised Gideon because, well, he was hiding, which is not your typical “mighty warrior” behavior. But the Lord told Gideon that he was the guy who would lead the army to save Israel from the Midianites. When he heard this, Gideon immediately started explaining to God why he was the wrong guy for the job—he belonged to the weakest clan, and he was the weakest of the weakest clan. You know what was happening there? Gideon was looking at himself and his own abilities rather than looking at God and believing that He is who He says He is.
Downs, Annie F.. 100 Days to Brave (p. 47). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
I'm sure there were some that were scared yesterday. They thought "why me? how am I supposed to make a stand for change?" But holy heck... what they did is having an impact. People are listening.
Only God knows what is going to come from the player's bravery.
All I can do is sit and ask Him what He wants ME to do.
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