Saturday night’s NHL game between the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs turned out to be an extraordinarily memorable one.
Dave Ayres, a 42-year-old Zamboni driver, became the first-ever emergency backup goalie to win a game and the oldest goalie in NHL history to win his regular-season debut.
Ayres was available to either team in case both active goalies would get injured. But the Hurricanes lost James Reimer in the first period and Petr Mrazek in the second period, so he went in as the goaltender with Carolina leading 3-1.
While sitting in the stands watching the game with his wife, little did he know he'd soon be skating onto the rink making his dream become a reality.
An even more amazing fact of the story is that he had a kidney transplant 15 years ago and there he was in goal for Carolina. Even though he allowed the first two shots to go in, Ayres overcame his nerves and was able to settle down. He ended up with eight saves on the rest of the shots on goal and Carolina won 6-3 in Toronto.
This would definitely make a good movie script. Ayres had to be unbelievably overwhelmed, nervous, and worried about playing in his first NHL game at the age of 42...and just after eating a Reuben sandwich in the stands!
Especially impressive was seeing his new teammates rally around him telling him to relax and not to feel so pressured. After the game, Ayres acknowledged, "One of the guys Erik=">Erik" Haula="Haula</a></em><em>"> said to me, 'Just have fun. We don't care if you let 10 goals in.' That's what settled me down, and it was great."
Although an emergency goalie being asked to play is very rare, the pressure-filled emotions Ayres initially felt are something we can all relate to.
We encounter our own situations where we don’t want to let people down. Because we want to make the most of every opportunity and not blow it, we get nervous and overwhelmed by the weight of what we’re stepping into.
Sometimes in these moments, all it takes is a simple and encouraging word from a “teammate” to settle us down. Proverbs 12:25 (AMP) gives us this wisdom:
“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good (encouraging) word makes it glad.”
Just as it's important for a goalie not to feel all alone, the same is true for us. We need to surround ourselves with encouraging friends that will tell us to “just have fun” when we face new and exciting challenges.
To take this approach even farther, we can easily put too much pressure on ourselves to be perfect when it comes to life, faith, and sin. We focus so much on “not giving up goals” that we get nervous about making a mistake. When we become so tense, uptight, and worried, we can easily forget the freedom we have in Christ.
That doesn’t mean we think it’s okay to sin or “give up 10 goals,” but we must learn to let go of the pressure, rest in God’s grace, and trust Him when we feel inadequate and in over our heads.
Romans 8:1-4 (NLT) gives us this hope: "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
"The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body, God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.
"He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”
Today, let’s acknowledge our weakness as we allow the power of the life-giving Spirit to guide us and help us live free and relaxed.
I’m Bryce Johnson and you can UNPACK that!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I need your life-giving Spirit to give me peace instead of anxiety, trust instead of worry, and power instead of my own weakness. Thank you that Jesus has made me free, and help me live rooted in that freedom. In His name, I pray, Amen.
Discussion Questions for PACKS:
What are you feeling nervous or worried about right now?
How would your life look differently if you lived more free and relaxed?
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