God used the World’s Strongman Contest to meet our needs during my seminary years in Dallas! No, I wasn’t a contestant, though I proudly regale my ability at twisting off bottle and jar lids for my wife. But God worked in an interesting way in 1980 to provide for Mary and me. It was the end of summer and God surprised us before heading back to Dallas Seminary from our summer pastoral internship. Usually, when one goes to school full-time, the summers are spent working full-time to earn money to pay for the following semester. However, we had a field education requirement to fulfill, and through family connections we found a small church in Canada that would take us on for the summer. The company where I worked part-time assured me the job would be there for me when we returned. So, in faith, we drove about 1,300 miles to a summer learning experience, thinking we could save money from any stipend they provided. Nothing was mentioned ahead of time about how much “support” the church would give us, but we left that in the Lord’s hands.

The church covered our housing and expenses for our time there, but anything beyond that was not nearly enough for fall tuition. We had gotten used to living week by week, but as our time there came to a close, we didn’t know whether I would have to drop out of school to work full-time. Of course, we prayed, but my practical side was getting nervous. Was this faith-way-of-living going to work for us, or did that kind of thing only happen to the super-saints and missionaries? My faith indeed faltered along with my growing awareness of personal shortcomings in ministry.

Then a phone call came through from a young man who had been in the youth group back in our church in Buffalo, New York, five or six years earlier. He had subsequently played football on scholarship for Syracuse University and now was a professional offensive lineman with the Pittsburg Steelers of the NFL. This fellow was about my height but packed about 265 pounds of solid muscle. I remember teasing him once while he was still in high school, and he summarily picked me up like a proverbial match-stick, intending to throw me out the door and into a snowbank. Fortunately, as he approached the doorway with me over his shoulder, I spread out like a cartoon character with all four appendages to catch the doorframe. We ended up laughing over it all. His family had virtually adopted me when I was a new, young Christian in the early 1970’s. What a blessing they were to me.

I hadn’t talked with Craig Wolfley for a year or two, so I was surprised to hear his voice and more astonished that he could track me down (this was well before the days of the internet or cell phones). He said urgently, “Chuck, pray for me.” I was expecting a tragedy. “… I applied to be a participant in the World’s Strongest Man contest in a few months.” Now, that’s a different sort of prayer request. “I told the Lord that if I got accepted, I would give half my winnings to Him.” Things were getting interesting. He added, “That means I will give that money to you.” My interest piqued even more. Finally, he said, “Pray that I do well and win.”

Well, how do you pray for that? “Lord, help Craig win so that I get more money”? Mary and I had no idea how much money was at stake, but we agreed to pray for Craig; we left it up to the Lord to separate our self-interest from an altruistic desire to pray as he requested. That has become a common theme of prayer for me over the years, that God would separate my selfish desires from those things He desires. Knowing my own heart and the human propensity to self-benefit, evaluating our motives has not always been an easy task. But pray we did.

The competition, which was to begin soon, involved things like pulling 18-wheel tractor-trailer trucks, tossing telephone poles (Scottish style), throwing beer kegs overhead, deadlifting enormous weights and other things typical of such show-worthy contests. It would all be televised on a national network. He was going up against nine other strongmen from around the world (Russia, Sweden, etc.), with the average size of the behemoths being 6’ 6” tall  and 340 pounds. While Craig was himself quite a large fellow (compared to me), he was on the smaller size compared to them! However, he came with a pedigree of being known around the NFL as one of the strongest men on the gridiron.

He had little time to prepare and virtually no time to practice the events ahead of time, yet he managed a fifth-place finish overall and a special bonus for coming in second in sumo wrestling. As a contact sport, his football experience served him well for that event. The objective was to push your opponent around to get him to be the first to touch down outside of the circle on the mat, and this was more in line with his prowess as an offensive lineman. Craig made it through the heats and into the final round, well-positioned to take first place.

At the whistle, he pulled a typical football lineman maneuver and gave a quick shoulder pop (where he stood up quickly and, with both hands, “popped” his opponent’s shoulders back. With the other fellow stunned, Craig rushed to push him out of the circle. As he grappled toward the edge of the ring, his opponent fell backward. Unfortunately, Craig stumbled at the last moment, and as they both fell out, my friend touched out of the circle first. Had he won, there was a $5,000 bonus.

With his overall finish in the middle of the pack, a check arrived in the mail that was enough to cover the following year’s tuition at the seminary.

During the final two years at the seminary, God provided through a grant from a wealthy individual who left a legacy to help seminary students with their education expenses. Combined with working every spare minute I could afford, we were able to make it through the four years of full-time studies with no debt. We remembered then, and many times hence, what God said,

“For every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.” (Ps. 50:10)

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” (Jer. 32:27)

I have hesitated to tell these kinds of stories lest anyone think we are showcasing our faith. By now (I’m 72 years old at this writing), I am over that. David says in Psalm 51:6 that God desires “truth in the innermost being.” My faith has been small, but so many times He has worked despite that. I speak not out of false humility (I don’t think) but in a genuine effort to showcase the greatness of God.

The above story happened more than 40 years ago, and God has continually supplied our needs. Over the years, we have learned to dance with the Holy Spirit, where His leading and provision have blended in harmony with our desire to do everything within our power and the abilities He has given us to serve Him. We have learned the humility of “shopping” at food banks when we had little income; yet we had an all-expense paid trip to Israel. We often couldn’t afford the cost of taking vacations, but we have had vacations in cabins or cottages offered to us. There were situations where the only time away with our young family found us in a small tent with two toddlers in tow—that was all we could afford. One Christmas, I was given three brand-new suits (and one other offered by an older woman whose husband had just bought a fashionable Sunday suit before he died and was subsequently buried in it—she wanted me to have it). These gifts replaced a five-year-old suit that had become thread-bare.

We had an older car given to us once (resulting in us becoming a two-car family for the first time), but we were struggling to clothe our family and put food on the table—we couldn’t eat the car! By the way, Mary and I had a good laugh when we were rejoicing in the Lord while driving down the highway in our “new-to-us” vehicle, and out of the blue, the side view mirror fell off! God certainly had a sense of humor, and we enjoyed a good laugh with the inner assurance that He could provide for all of our needs.

May these stories convey the wonderfulness of God to the next generation of believers, my children, grandchildren and their downlines. May these stories encourage anyone else reading this to think back at all the amazing times God has provided for each one of you. As these things come to mind, share them with others, especially your children and grandchildren—just like the Israelites were encouraged to do with the generations that followed them:

We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done…That they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments… (Ps. 78:4, 7)