I didn’t play football in high school but tried out in college and made the team. Originally, I was assigned to play an offensive line position but later transitioned to a defensive end. I loved to play that outside position to prevent an end run.

My opponent would line up on me and his job was to take me out so an end-run play could be made sweeping his team to his side to gain yardage. He would line up in a traditional head-down three-point stance. I stood upright with my hands free able to stand over my opposing player. I used a specific technique with each play. I would backhand strike the opposing player’s helmet and ring his bell on the snap as I moved past him toward the quarterback. After a few plays, my opponent would begin to shift his focus from the execution of his part in a play to the anticipation of my bell-ringing back knuckle strike, a leftover from my martial arts training. 

In one game, I could tell the backhand diversion was working after three quarters of play when the entire opposing line on my side rushed me and hit my helmet as a payback. It was comedic. They forfeited their play just to get their point across. 

Some of you are like a spiritual defensive end positioned spiritually to interfere with the enemy’s attempt to pull off an end run on your life, your family, or your Kingdom assignment. You hold a strategic position of containment in a game of faith. Your position allows you to confuse the enemy rattling his cage as he attempts to make his play on your faith, the health and safety of your family, or the fulfillment of your calling.

Your bell-ringing strike to the enemy’s plan can seem too simplistic, but it has the potential to throw off a plan of hell. A kind word is spoken when a word of judgment was expected, or a gift when no gift was anticipated or deserved, or a prayer of blessing for someone who opposes you will confuse the enemy and cause him to stumble as he attempts to execute his play.

You hold a strategic position in God’s Kingdom that is the equivalent of a defensive end in football. It is important for you to learn how to play the game smarter than your opponent. My coach never taught me how to back-knuckle an opposing player to create a diversion.  It was a creative tactic that paid a greater dividend than simply being defensive and waiting for the opposing team to execute their plan uninterrupted. Get creative and watch the enemy stumble when your acts of faith and love interrupt his play and defeat his plan.