Cardiac arrest can be fatal if it lasts longer than 8 minutes without CPR and brain damage can happen after just 5 minutes. Medical personnel attended to Hamlin for 19 minutes on the field according to the Associated Press. The Bills team reported that Hamlin’s heartbeat was restored on the field, and he was transferred to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in critical condition.
But as dire as that moment was, God would use it to show up and show off! In a country where coaches from elementary to college to professional teams are reprimanded or fired for leading players in prayer or even praying on their own, massive macho football players dropped to their knees in prayer in front of the world. In a day where people argue about and demean each other over anything and everything, most of those who became aware of the situation came into agreement over this young man’s situation and prayed and desired his well-being.
Every race, every political persuasion, male and female, rich and poor, people from many countries, football lovers and those who know nothing of the game cared deeply about him. None of those things mattered. Moreover, not only did the Buffalo Bills team pray and weep on the field but their opponents, the Cincinnati Bengals cried and prayed with them. What mattered most was a fellow human being’s life – so much so that the remainder of the game was not only postponed but ultimately canceled.
The reactions and outpouring of love and bold prayer brough to life the scripture in Genesis 50:20 ”But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.” In what can only be described as a miraculous outcome, it seems that Damar will ultimately pull through. He may or may not play football again and his recovery will require much rehabilitation, but the prognosis for a good outcome is promising in whatever God has in store for him.
After a few days, when he awoke enough to communicate, he asked his medical team in writing, “Who won?” According to Dr. Timothy Pritts, the response was “DAMAR, YOU WON – YOU WON THE GAME OF LIFE.”
And so, it is with those of us who have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. WE WON! WE WON THE GAME OF LIFE! We won eternal life. We won because Christ won when He chose to come to earth to become a sacrifice for us and conquer the grave. 1 John 5:4-5 tells us, “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”
God wants us to be winners and teaches us how to become one through His word. Just one good example of a winner is the Apostle Paul. He writes in Philippians 3:12-14: ”Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
As remarkable and inspirational Damar Hamlin’s story is, remember you and your story are just as meaningful to the Lord. Acts 10:34 tells us, “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons.” We are on equal footing with Him. He is prepared to perform miracles in our lives and if we think about it, He already has. We all have many amazing testimonies; it’s just that Damar’s crisis happened on a national stage. So, let’s go forth with confidence in 2023 knowing that no matter how bad our situations may look humanely, God still performs miracles today and it is His pleasure to do so for us. In our lives also, what the wicked one means for evil, God can turn it around for good. You are a winner!