Everybody’s Got Their Own Bobby

By Max Lucado

I still recall his name. Bobby Jackson. I still recall his frame. Built like a lumberjack on steroids. I still recall the pain. One wop of his forearm against my face mask and my teeth rattled down to their roots.

Our high school football coach warned me about him all week leading up to the game. Bobby Jackson: the man, the myth, the legend. But no warning could prepare me for this nose guard who ate skinny linemen like me for dinner. I weighed 170 pounds sopping wet. He weighed 230 pounds, ripped and rock-solid. He could bench-press me. And in that Friday night football game he did exactly that, one play after the next for four brutal quarters.

 He played nose-guard on the defensive line. I played center on the offensive line. He was all-state. I was in a state of panic. Each time I came out of the huddle, there he was, snarling. I began the game gung ho. By the end of the first quarter, my gung ho was an “oh, no.” Bobby pounded me, threw me, tossed me. He was a Doberman, and I was a rag doll. He hit me so hard my ancestors felt it. I begged the second-string center to take my place. I asked the coach if I could take up tennis. I wondered if anyone would notice if I joined the cheerleading squad.

With two minutes left in the game, he finished me off. It was fourth down and forever; time to punt. My job was to snap the ball to the punter. As I leaned over the ball, the Hulk asked if I wanted my nose broken in one or two places. I winced. He lunged. I snapped the football a good ten feet over our punter’s head.

I’ve not seen Bobby again.

It’s one thing to manage the day-to-day issues of traffic, calendar, and tasks. It’s another entirely to go face-to-face with Bobby-sized problems. We all face them. But we don’t all face them well. Unless we learn to think rightly about these overwhelming challenges, they will get inside our heads.

So, let’s tackle Bobby, shall we?

No one needs to tell you giants roam this world. No one needs to tell you this life is a battle. But maybe someone needs to remind you the battle belongs to the Lord. Put that Scripture in your stone pouch. Next time you feel overwhelmed, load your sling and let it fly.

You never fight alone. You never fight solo. You never ever face a challenge without the backup of God Almighty. God is with you as you face your giant. With you as you are wheeled into surgery. With you as you enter the cemetery. With you, always. Silence the voice that says, “The challenge is too great.” And welcome God’s voice that reminds, The battle belongs to the Lord.

Dallas Willard wrote about a child who climbed into his father’s bed. The little boy was afraid of the dark. Once he was under the covers he asked: “Is your face turned toward me, Father?”

 “Yes,” his father replied, “my face is turned toward you.” Knowing this, the child could sleep.¹

I’m so happy to report that the face of your heavenly Father is facing you. He has not left you alone. He never will.

Set your mind on his presence.

Let me show you a page from the journal of someone who did exactly that. He was a psalmist. He helped write the Bible. Yet, he was facing a challenge that drained the life out of him. He described his condition in this way:

The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in the darkness
like those long dead.
So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.

Psalm 143:3–4

Such a mournful condition. Satan had driven the writer to a state where he “[dwelled] in the darkness like those long dead.” Just the words are enough to sadden a heart. Yet, the writer refused to surrender. He would have appreciated the tool called Practice Picky Thinking, because that is exactly how he coped with his darkness.

I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.

Psalm 143:5

He resolved to shift his gaze away from the mess that surrounded him and focused on the God who sustained him. He meditated on God’s works. Maybe he made a list of miracles. Counted his blessings. Recalled God’s goodness. He took thoughts of death captive and replaced them with thoughts of life.

Negative thoughts lead to negative feelings. Thoughts of faith create feelings of hope. Be God-minded! Meditate on him. I recommend doing so by focusing on three specific moments.

Tell that to the brute of a noseguard who wants to mop the field with you.

Bobby gave me his best shot. I left the game with a bloody nose, a headache, and a few loose teeth. But I also left the game with a great big smile. We won.

You are going to win, as well. After all, the battle belongs to the Lord.

[1] John Ortberg, Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You (Zondervan, 2014), 24.BIO:

Excerpted from Tame Your Thoughts: Three Tools to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life by Max Lucado Copyright © August 2025 by Max Lucado. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.MaxLucado.com