By Marshall Mullinax, serving on the Alliance team in Israel
This past June, the reigning Israel Football League champions, the Judean Rebels, invited me to play against the Israel National Team. I prayed about it and sought godly counsel. With all green lights, I suited up for the first time in three years, and the first practice went well. The second practice was going well too, until I turned to sprint during a drill.
I heard a “pop” and felt a searing pain. The top of my foot went numb, and I couldn’t get up and walk.
After an initial misdiagnosis, I had an ultrasound two weeks later that showed I had a 2.2-centimeter tear in my Achilles. The tear exceeded 50 percent of the total tendon, so it was a full tear. The clinic referred me to a hospital, where they told me I needed immediate surgery. I hopped out of the hospital in a cast and expected surgery within two days.
Six days passed with no surgery scheduled. I went to the hospital once again and waited until I could consult with another orthopedic specialist. He had a different opinion, so I left the hospital in an AirCast and a nonsurgical protocol.
In August, fearing that I wasn’t progressing correctly, I had another ultrasound. It revealed that my Achilles has roughly 50 percent of its original thickness, which means I am far from healed.
Did I Hear Wrong?
When I was injured, one of my agnostic friends said to me, “Well, you’re always saying that you don’t play football unless you understand from God that you’re supposed to. Guess you heard wrong this time.”
It was a pointed statement, revealing a lot about how he perceives God.
In truth, though, isn’t his thought process one that many sincere Jesus followers may also adhere to?
If I were really doing what the Lord has called me to, wouldn’t this go better? we wonder.
As followers of Jesus, we need to be careful when our theology starts to match an agnostic’s theology.
Thankfully, when my friend asked me that question, I responded, in spite of my heavy disappointment, “No, I was convinced that this was part of what I should do now and that God was in it. So, whatever His plan is for me, it must include this.”
What Do I Do Now?
My life has changed significantly: no running, no sports, and spending a significant amount of time learning to walk again as I test my pain tolerance with physiotherapy. But some other things have changed too.
Rather than spending a lot of time wondering, Why?, I’ve been trying to ask other questions: “What is the lesson I need to learn? Are there things I can see now that I didn’t before?”
That meager shift—being open to a lesson rather than looking for an explanation—honors my Savior. During this time, my heart has been challenged by some things I had never noticed before, as I walked among the people here in Israel. What will God do with that? I don’t know. But I do know I can trust Him.