Speaking in a powerful speech posted to Instagram by Christhlete, a Christian athletes-focused page, New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr spoke out about God’s love and grace. The speech was particularly powerful given the scare Carr and his wife had when their first son was born, as he suffered from serious health issues.
“When their oldest son, Dallas, was born in 2013, he was rushed into emergency surgery at Valley Children’s because of intestinal malrotation, a potentially life-threatening condition that affected his blood supply and intestinal tract,” Valley Children’s Hospital shared.
But he survived and their parents made it through with their Christian faith not only intact, but strengthened by the incident. Such is what Carr spoke about in his powerful speech, describing how they prayed to the Lord above and God delivered, and how he spoke to God about holding onto his faith no matter what.
He said, recalling how he prayed, “God, you are going to help my son. But even if you don’t. I’m still not going to give in. I’m still going to fight. I’m still going to pray. I’m still going to worship.” He continued, “Even if you don’t bring me through this, you are still good and I’m not going to bow down to culture. Even if you don’t do it, you are still good. You are still faithful. You are still merciful.”
Continuing, Carr explained what had happened to his son, arguing that “the enemy,” meaning Satan, had tried to get him. He said, “My son — the enemy’s been trying to get him since birth because of something special on his life. Watch. When he’s older, you’ll see it. But he’s [the enemy] been trying to get him since birth. He had these surgeries and all these kinds of things.”
He then described the heart-wrenching conversation he had to have with his wife about their son, saying, “My wife…she looked at me, and she said, ‘Is he going to make it?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. I believe that he is. Yes, I think that he will. Yeah, absolutely. But even if he doesn’t make it, even if he doesn’t’ — I looked at my wife and said this…Imagine how hard that is. First-time dad.”
He added, further describing the conversation, “‘Even if he doesn’t, God is still good. Even if he doesn’t, we have to believe that God is still good.’ I can’t base my theology…on my experience. My theology is based on Jesus and what the Bible says. I can’t base it just because if something bad happens to me, God can’t do it again. I can’t be that way.”
Watch him here:
Carr has made his faith a central part of his identity. On his personal website, for example, he says, “I have a very strong faith in God. He is the reason I play football. He has given me this special talent and I want to use it to glorify Him. I am grateful for the opportunity to further His kingdom by sharing my faith on and off the football field. At any moment, any second, my football career could be taken away but my faith and relationship with God will never be taken from me.”
Featured image credit: By Sgt. Bradley Parrish – DVIDS, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46718773