There was a football game in the forest between the big animals and the little animals. The big animals were the bears, giraffes, and hippopotamuses. The little animals were the rabbits, turtles, and chipmunks, and so forth.
They started playing this game and after the first half the big animals were kicking the living stew out of the little animals as you might expect. And they came in the locker room at half-time and the chipmunk jumped up on the bench and he said,
“Hey guys, don’t get discouraged! We can win this war! Come on, we’ve got to suck it up and go out there and beat them. Come on! Come on! Come on!”
He got them all motivated and the little animals kicked off to the big animals. And the big animals got the ball and it was first and ten on their own twenty. On the very first play they handed the ball off to the bear who was running straight up the middle. He got to the line of scrimmage and all the sudden…WAP! He was knocked flat on his back and I mean hard!
The little animals come running around and they say, “What happened here? What happened? And this little centipede stands up on the back two of his hundred legs and he said, “I did it! I did it! I did it!”
And they cheered him on, the big animals went back in the huddle and they came back out and gave the ball to the giraffe who was going to out run every body around the end. But he got out around the end and all of a sudden…WAP!! And down he goes.
They all gather around and say, “What happened? What happened? And the little centipede stands up on his back two legs and says, “I did it! I did it! I did it!”
So the big animals go back into the huddle and say, “We’ve got to destroy these people. So they call a play: hippopotamus straight up the middle!
So they hand the ball to the hippo and he takes off straight up the middle, but as soon as he gets to the line of scrimmage…WAP!! And down he goes! Guess who? The little centipede…I did it! I did it! I did it!
Well all the small animals gather round and they say to the centipede, “This is wonderful! But where in the world were you in the first half?”
He said, “I was in the locker room getting my ankles taped!”☺☺
When we talk about reaching the world for Jesus Christ it’s easy to feel like we’re the little animals and we’re getting the living stew kicked out of us. And some of you feel like centipedes. The reason athletes tape their ankles is because they’ve been hurt in the past or they’re concerned about getting hurt again. Some of you feel bruised and deeply broken. You’ve been in the locker room of the church for years trying to get your stinking ankles taped. Well, you may need them taped. But there comes a time when you come out of the locker room and get on the field. We desperately need you out on the field to kick the stew out of the evil one who’s trying to destroy people for all eternity. And sometimes it really looks like he’s winning this game.
Centipedes, chipmunks, rabbits, let’s unite for a cause greater than ourselves.
Insight for the Journey 