As a young father of two precious children, Tommie Harris Jr. lost his wife to a brain aneurysm. At that point, he had to learn to stand on his knees. Tommie was a chubby kid, a high school athlete, a college football All-American and an NFL star. He learned to play through the pain at every level. This plan is the fourth of five in the series.
For Generations
Day 1
Scriptures: Romans 8:1-4, Romans 8:12-14, John 3:3
Do you ever feel like you can’t catch a break?
Have you ever wondered when life was going to get easier?
Or have you ever dreamed of the moment when you might feel like you have finally arrived?
I know I have. This is one of the reasons that I connect on so many levels with the story of King David from the Bible.
We can look into David’s life and see that many times it seems like he has finally made it, only to experience another setback.
The truth is that setbacks come in all shapes and sizes. They are inevitable for the rich, the poor, the talented, and everyone in between.
In sports, I have always been the best at everything. As a top recruit at the University of Oklahoma and drafted in the first round of the NFL, being first was both familiar and comfortable to me. I was close to God when life was good, but drifted away when things didn’t go the way that I wanted. Setbacks have been a part of my life.
Think back over David’s life with me:
The Prophet Samuel interrupts David’s young life as a shepherd and under the leadership of God selects him from his seven brothers to anoint him as king. Then David goes back to the field to watch sheep again.
King Saul recruits David to come to the palace because of his exceptional musical ability. King Saul’s mind is plagued with worry and stress, so he asks David to play him a soothing melody. Then David is sent back to the field to watch sheep again.
Over and over it must have seemed to David like God was finally moving him into the higher calling to which he knew he had been called. But it was like his purpose remained elusively behind a door that he could not yet open.
Have you ever felt like that?
In the next part of the story, Jesse calls David and asks him to take food to his brothers, who are serving as soldiers in the Valley of Elah. King Saul’s army had camped out there and was preparing to fight against the mighty Philistine enemy. Again, just like all the other times, David rises to the occasion. He is the only Israelite willing to fight against the Champion from Gath, who we know as Goliath.
Finally, David is victorious, and as a result the door that David has been waiting for opens. But it comes at a cost, requiring a death in order for life to come forth.
The open door brings with it the end of David’s days with sheep. His time at home is over, his boyhood gone forever, and no more will he be known as a mere commoner.
Death comes to every seed, before germination. It comes to every human before he or she is born again into the Kingdom of God.
What needs to die, in order for your purpose to live in its fullest measure?
Day 2
Scriptures: 1 Samuel 19:1, 1 Samuel 19:4-6, 1 Samuel 19:9-10, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Sometimes our purpose takes us down a difficult road or at least a road that we didn’t plan on. Sometimes it requires us to surrender pieces of ourselves that we would much rather hold on to.
When I was just 28 years old I found myself standing next to my wife’s hospital bed. She was hooked up to several monitors, and with each breath, I was reminded of what was at stake. All the money in the world couldn’t save her…and worst of all…I couldn’t save her. Facing the decision of what to do next was so incredibly painful. I had to decide if I was going to let my beautiful Ashley live the rest of her life as a vegetable or allow God to have complete control by allowing them to turn off the machines that were keeping her alive. It felt like every molecule of oxygen was being pressed out of my lungs by a massive weight, I was so deflated!
Have you ever felt deflated?
After David defeated the champion Goliath, he would never return to the field to watch his father’s sheep again. And even though a door to a new opportunity had finally opened wide enough for him to walk into his next season, he would face more difficulty on the other side.
It didn’t take long for King Saul to become jealous of David’s success. He became so jealous that, as we see in 1 Samuel 19:1, he “urged his servants AND his son Jonathan to assassinate David.”
Thankfully King Saul’s son, Jonathan, loved David and was able to talk some momentary sense into the king. But sadly, even with the wisdom of Jonathan whispering into Saul’s ears, it wasn’t very long before “Saul hurled a spear at David” (1 Samuel 19:10). Fortunately, David was able to escape by dodging out of the way. He fled into the night, leaving the spear stuck in the wall.
Have you ever felt like no matter what you do you can’t win? Or have you ever felt like all the odds are stacked against you?
Consider this.
Could it be that God is teaching you to stand on your knees?
Could it be that God is preparing you for an opportunity that you would not and could not have planned for or imagined?
Could it be that even in your setbacks, God is setting His sights on your future?
Day 3
Scriptures: Romans 8:28, Philippians 4:13, Deuteronomy 32:4
It’s time to begin considering that God really can use everything for His purpose in our lives.
Consider this: the Holy Spirit did not inspire Paul to write Romans 8:28 by accident.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
As I journeyed through my personal “setback”, I came to realize that others might benefit from hearing my story and all that God did through it. I began to learn that the only way through something is through it. As I journeyed, God and I began to build the beginnings of a song that helped tell my story.
A couple of years ago, I was playing on a softball team with some friends at the University of Oklahoma when I met a new friend.
Remember, God always works all things for the good of those who love him and have been called according to HIS purpose.
God is so good to make the right connections at the right time. My new friend was none other than Billy Dawson, a country music singer & songwriter. We connected right away, and soon after meeting him, we sat down together and wrote my song, Deflated.
Here are the words to that song:
At 8:45 I was flying high on an airplane
Then I got a call that changed it all at the baggage claim
Said she passed away and my heart just cracked
All the money in the world couldn’t bring her back
Every breath in my chest just left like that
I was deflated
Empty and naked
I had to learn to stand down on my knees
Suffocating
Didn’t think I would make it
But in order for God to breathe life back into me
I had to be
Deflated
Me and my kids didn’t know how to live without her
All my dreams was crushed into nothing but dust and powder
Felt like everyone was breathing but me
If there was a bright side I couldn’t see
Like my soul had a hole
Wide and deep
I was deflated
Self-medicated
I had to learn to stand down on my knees
Life’s complicated
Didn’t think I would make it
But in order for God to breathe life back into me
I had to be
Deflated
I was deflated
But I’m thankful I made it
It takes a man to stand down on his knees
Life’s complicated
Can’t be jaded
Cause in order for God to breathe life back into me
I had to be
Deflated
Life really is complicated. But just like God used the setbacks in David’s life to ultimately fulfill his destiny and purpose, God has used the difficult moments in my life, too.