The Euros have just started and I’m excited. I love these tournaments and after the year we have had to see fans in the stadiums enjoying the football is a wonderful thing to see.

Tonight as I was watching the football, Christian Eriksen, the Danish footballer collapsed on the pitch. Medical teams rushed on and used CPR to restart his heart. It was an eerie thing to watch. The players were visibly distressed, as were the fans, commentators, pundits, and anyone who was watching on. Thankfully at this point it seems like Christian is going to be OK, he is in hospital and is stable.

One of the most fascinating things watching the scene unfold, was listening to the reaction of people on TV, social media and their conversation afterwards. It was clear people weren’t sure what to do, so they said things that were raw. Pundits were struggling to find out where to turn so they began to talk about prayer, hope, good feelings. Here are a couple of quotes;

“we just need to pray and hope”

“all we have is hope”

I was fascinated that people in some way turned to a God that they claim to have no belief in. I’m not saying that in a smug way or an annoyed way, I just find it interesting. It’s like we don’t have a language or a way to process suffering outside of God. There is just something in us, the God DNA kicks in. People aren’t as far from Him as they think.

Even after the news that Christian was OK and was going to pull through the pundits and commentators were struggling to know what to say. Here are a couple of other quotes I heard;

“I’m not a religious man but….surely those messages did something.” (talking about the outpouring of messages across the world)

“the love around him has helped him pull through”

I’m not trying to turn something tragic into something opportunistic, just in case you are reading this and you don’t know Jesus. I just am fascinated about how close God is to our thinking and how we have no idea where to turn to if we don’t follow Him.

I’m so thankful Christian is OK, and I’m so thankful I know Jesus – a man who gives us context for suffering, who gives us a foundation for all that we face.