Daniel Murphy: A Light in the Outfield

New York Mets’ Daniel Murphy is making waves in Major League Baseball. He’s in his second season in the big leagues and is ranked among the top players on the team. With all of the accolades that come with being a professional athlete, he says he is only here for one purpose. “I wouldn’t be here without what the Lord has done for me in my life and the situation He’s put me in with my family, through high school, college and with this organization,” Daniel tells The 700 Club. “He’s put me fortunately on this stage -- in the greatest athletic stage in all the world for a reason. I think that reason is to be a light.” Daniel became a Christian while in high school. “I actually came to know the Lord in a youth group trip to North Carolina, a place called The Wilds. It’s one of those things you hear so much about when you’re in youth group, because some of the kids had gone before and you’re excited. I was about 14 or 15 years old. The Lord overcame me so much that you just couldn’t resist.” A few years later, Daniel was off to Jacksonville University, where he had an amazing college career. In his junior year, he was drafted by the Mets. Making the adjustment from college was difficult. “That was really the first time I’d ever been on my own. It was a very eye-opening experience. I can do what I want. I have a choice whether or not I want to be in chapel on Sundays, because nobody sees. I have a choice whether or not I want to get along with the Lord. My dad always asked me, ‘You reading your Bible lately?’ [I reply] ‘I’m trying, I’m trying.’ He’s always stays on me about that.” Any professional baseball player can tell you playing in the Majors is difficult, but playing in New York is something different all together. “I think there’s such a pressure to win,” he says. “Sometimes I don’t always approach failure the way that I should. I don’t always take it the way that I should. I get very frustrated. I get frustrated with myself and do things I shouldn’t do, because I get caught up in the moment. I’ve made some mistakes in the outfield. The first thing I want to do is express it and not in the way that I should. I have to take a moment and try not to lash out. Take it in, absorb it, and then just kind of let it go by the wayside.” As the Mets continue their pursuit for the No. 1 spot in the National League East, Daniel says that his relationship with God helps him deal with the pressure of it all. “It’s just the peace that you get. It’s something that you can’t describe until you have it. When you don’t have it, you go through your entire life searching for something to fill it. Is it money? Is it fame, fortune? Is it women? Is it alcohol? But when you find the Lord, it’s just the peace and the relationship that you have. You don’t really find it until you find the Lord.”