I’m not really a sport fan these days nor I don’t regularly follow any type of professional team, yet I still watch the Superbowl every year like I did just over a week ago when the New England Patriots played the Atlanta Falcons for the NFL championship. And while most people I knew were rooting against the team I was cheering for, that being the Patriots, something interesting happened with that game that I felt was an extremely invaluable reminder for myself and that’s to not give up before the miracle happens.
Whether you’re a fan of football or not, it’s actually a pretty impressive feat to come back from a 25-point deficit with only a quarter of a game to go. Personally, when half time came during Superbowl 51, I had already given up on my team having any chance of winning and chose to sulk out in my kitchen. Because unfortunately, that’s been a bad habit of mine over the years, to give up on something before the miracle ever has a chance to happen.
So, when the Patriots came storming back with one touchdown after another and tied the game with relatively no time left on the clock in the 4th quarter, I was relatively stunned. Not only because no team has ever come back from that large of a deficit in Superbowl history, but also because the Patriots have never overcome that large of a deficit in any regular season game either. Given those stats, I simply gave up on them and assumed they were going to lose, and badly at that. Yet, that didn’t happen. They did come back, with a vengeance at that, and forced an overtime, which is something that’s never happened in any prior Superbowl. And when they scored the first touchdown to win the championship, achieving a feat I hadn’t thought possible, it symbolized something I’ve long strived for.
You see, the path I’ve been on over the past six years has been a rough and bumpy one, ladled with plenty of spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical struggles, sometimes more than I could have ever imagined I’d bear in life. So many times, I’ve wanted to give up, to check out, and assume that God won’t and/or never planned on delivering me out of this. Yet, watching the New England Patriots beat the odds, the statistics, and really any of their own self-defeating thoughts they might have had with a 25-point deficit to win the championship reminded me that miracles do happen, especially when you don’t give up.
That’s why I’m thankful the game ended as it did, because I needed the strong reminder to help me to keep going in my own life and overcome an ego that has so often wanted me to give up. And while I’m not sure what actually drove the Patriots to make such a huge comeback instead of giving up, I know for myself when the odds have been stacked against me like it was with them in the game, that there’s only one thing that’s ever helped me to overcome any deficit and that’s my faith in God. So, God willing, I plan on beating the odds in my own life and am not going to give up, because I truly do want to see the miracle happen, even if no one else seems to believe it ever will…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson
