I am NOT a football fan. So, if I’m watching a football game I’ve most likely been forced by one of the males in my life who all love the game. As I watched Damar Hamlin, the safety for the Buffalo Bills, collapse and die on the field after a tackle I gasped and then immediately started to pray. What was surprising to me was that, in a society that rarely speaks openly about God and rejects most of his teachings, most of the men on the field and many on the sidelines were kneeling and praying for Hamlin just like me.
The fact is that Hamlin died on that field. He suffered a cardiac arrest, meaning his heart went into a rhythm that was not compatible with life. His heart stopped and he stopped breathing. Now let’s put this in perspective with some medical facts. The brain can only go without oxygen for approximately 3-4 minutes before permanent damage occurs. CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) that occurs outside of a hospital setting only has a ~5% survival rate and the chances of survival with CPR decrease by as much as 10% per minute of CPR done before the heart starts again.
Hamlin reportedly had 9 minutes of CPR before his heart started again. So, medicine says Hamlin shouldn’t have survived and at best should not be functional given how long his brain was without oxygen. My brother called me as Hamlin was being loaded into the ambulance and asked me what I thought. I told him that it didn’t look good, 9 minutes is a long time, “but God”. My mother used to say that when you’re stating your problems don’t ever forget to add on to the end, “but God” because it’s not over until God has His say. And when God shows up it doesn’t matter what came before the “but”.
God is a game-changer, a way-maker, a healer, a miracle-worker, and more. And when God shows up He leaves no doubt that it was Him. I like that about God. He does the little extra that ONLY He can do. Like when Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt in Exodus chapter 14. They were trapped between the Red Sea and Pharoah and his army. An impossible problem until you add “but God”.
God showed up for the Israelites and when He did he showed out. He parted the Red Sea holding the water back on both sides so they could walk across the sea floor and escape Pharoah. As if that wouldn’t have been enough, God then showed out when the scripture says that they walked across on “dry land”. Only an all-powerful God can make that happen.
God showed up for Damar Hamlin too. He showed up and saved his life and then showed out which we all witnessed when Hamlin woke up in the hospital 5 days after dying on the field and asked of his doctors, “Who won the game?”. A week after this incident Hamlin was back at home.
Praise the Lord! God is an awesome God. Your problems aren’t over until God has His say. No matter how bad things look, when all hope is gone, remember to say, “but God”. Pray and ask God to show up and then have faith that He will. Have confidence in the fact that God has a record that proves that when He shows up, He often shows out.
