New Orleans Saints QB Derek Carr Delivers Message of Hope: ‘God is Still Good’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Every person will, at some point, experience some kind of trial, but New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr is reminding us of the hope we have in God’s faithfulness even amid hard times.
During a message he delivered, Carr opened up about what he and his wife, Heather, have gone through with their son Dallas’ health struggles.
“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.
Throughout that experience, though, Carr and his wife trusted God.
“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,” the quarterback recalled praying. “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.”
“My son — the enemy’s been trying to get him since birth because of something special on his life,” Carr explained. “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.”
“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,'” he added. “‘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.”
“‘Even if he doesn’t, God is still good. Even if he doesn’t, we have to believe that God is still good,'” he remembered saying. “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.”
Carr’s faith and family are his first priority. He declares on his website, “The three most important things in my life are faith, family, and football.”
“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,” Carr says.
However, “Being a quarterback is what I do but it does not define who I am. I am first and foremost a follower of Jesus Christ,” he adds.
Movieguide® previously reported on Carr’s faith:
Despite starting for the team since 2014, Carr said that he relied on his faith in God in the face of disappointment.
“I removed myself from a situation, and I just got in God’s presence every day,” Carr told Christian Headlines. “I got in His presence, and I found peace. And I found joy. I found answers to my questions.”
“Everybody is asking me, ‘How are you doing?’… I’m doing great, and I’m gonna tell you why. … I’m doing great walking with Jesus. He has been speaking so loud to me. It’s been so clear to me,” Carr continued. “That doesn’t mean that it has felt easy. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t woken up and felt angry at times. That doesn’t mean I haven’t woken up and felt a little upset at times, sad at times. Dang, I really wish I could have done more. I really wish that I could have helped more or I could have done better.
“… I didn’t accomplish the things that I wanted to accomplish … with the Raiders. [But] there are things still for me to accomplish in Las Vegas.”
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