Rob Issa, FISM News
Carson Wentz was released by the Washington Commanders after one rough season with the team.
The former franchise quarterback now seeks a fourth team in four years. Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft, has had a hard time living up to his breakout year in 2017.
He led the Philadelphia Eagles to an 11-2 record before suffering a season-ending injury that season and watched from the sideline while backup Nick Foles led the team to its first Super Bowl championship.
Wentz finished third in NFL MVP voting in 2017 and led the Eagles to the playoffs in 2019 before he had a dreadful season in 2020. He was traded to Indianapolis in 2021, spent one year with the Colts, and was traded to the Commanders last year. He only started seven games for Washington due to a finger surgery.
Wentz threw for 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions in eight games, including a four-TD performance in the season opener.
Coach Ron Rivera has already stated the Commanders will open the offseason with second-year pro Sam Howell at quarterback.
The 30-year-old Wentz has always leaned on his Christian faith throughout his career.
“It can be easy to get consumed with your worldly, fleshly train of thought or desires or whatever,” Wentz previously told Faith On The Field. “But when you look at everything from an internal perspective, from a Biblical perspective, and just know that this is so much bigger than just me and my life or where I’m at in my career, football, it’s so much bigger.
It’s God’s perfect plan. It’s his sovereignty interwoven with every one of our lives. And so for me to just fully trust, fully surrender [and say]: ‘All right, God, I’m just here for surrender to you. And I want to give everything I can in my life to ultimately glorify you as best I can.’ It just gives me a different perspective with everything that comes my way, the good, the bad, the ugly. It’s not always the easiest to kind of have that train of thought. But the Bible talks about having a renewed mind. And so for me, that’s a daily thing to have my mind renewed by the Word and just fully surrender to the Lord.
Editor’s Biblical Analysis
It is encouraging to see Carson Wentz keeping his faith in Christ in trying times. Let us all pray that he continues to seek God’s will in his life and not lose heart as he now seeks yet another new beginning in his career.
The “prosperity gospel” is quite popular in our culture today. It tells people that if our faith in God is as it should be, we will be healthy, wealthy, and successful in our worldly endeavors. However, this is not the gospel message taught in the Bible. Such a view puts human desires and worldly success at the center of our hearts and minds and leads us to destruction.
But take heart, Believer, for God’s will is so much better than winning football games, earning a bigger paycheck, or even physical health.
Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. – Romans 8:27-30 (NKJV)
See, “all things work together for good to those who love God” (v.28). However, the Bible does not define “good” in terms of worldly possessions, career success, or any other attribute or achievement that the world might see as “good.” Rather, we see in the context of the passage that “good” is defined as “according to the will of God” (v. 27) and “according to His purpose” (v.28).
God’s will is perfect, complete, and outside of the confines of time. What we may see as bad or even tragic news today may be exactly what is needed to fulfill God’s ultimate and perfect purpose in our lives.
We see also that we are “predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” (v. 29). And what was His Son? During his earthly life, did Jesus have worldly wealth? No. Was he successful, from a materialistic viewpoint? No. Ultimately, he was beaten and suffered an execution that had been perfected by Rome to be as agonizing, torturous, and humiliating as possible.
But in eternity, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, perfect and glorified by all creation.
In this life, we very well may be destined by God to suffer great pain, loss, and humiliation. In fact, it is a near guarantee that all of us will suffer such things at some point. But if we persevere in our faith and our striving to serve and honor God, we are destined to be justified, glorified, and perfected in Christ and live eternally free from suffering and pain with Him.
Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. – James 1:12.