Now I love sports but there are a lot of sports I'd rather actually DO than watch. Boxing would be one of them. I think it'd be awesome to get into a ring and go a few rounds. But actually watch two guys pummel each other to a bloody mess, doesn't really do it for me.
But I do love hearing Jeremy tell me stories of his boxing days.
One thing he told me that really stuck in my mind was that at the beginning his trainer used to make him stand in the ring with his hands behind his back while his trainer would punch him over and over again. He wasn't allowed to fight back or react.
Now I'm sure your first reaction is a lot like mine was...."ummm I don't even think so!No thank you!"
And then Jeremy, the logical person that he is, explained to me why his trainer would do this.
Jeremy used to get really angry when someone would punch him in the ring (as would anyone right?) but apparently that isn't good in boxing. Or any sport really. It distracts you. He would lose his head and react off of emotion instead of keeping his focus and acting off what he knew. His trainer was preparing him both physically and emotionally to be able to take a hit when they came in his matches. He was teaching him how to fight with purpose.
That's so like life isn't it? How often do we feel like we're in the middle of a boxing match? Some of us daily, right? We keep taking hit after hit from what often feels like every angle. And all you're trying to do is have the strength to get your hands up to protect and defend yourself, hoping desperately that the bell would ring and end the round.
How often we feel like the world has us backed into a corner. Whether it's sickness, finances, bills piling up, a person attacking our character, people around us hurting, things falling apart left and right...the enemy knows our weak spots. I face a fight every day with the pain and my health. It's never ending and the enemy knows that. He knows what to aim for to try and bring us down. His goal is to hit us where it hurts.Make us feel like we are defeated.
That sure does make life exhausting at times doesn't it? We wear ourselves out when trials hit because we often just start swinging punches out of emotion. How often have you felt like your strength feels like it's one right hook away from being knocked out completely? That your one jab away from losing hope? And then sometimes just when we feel like we've got our feet back under us, like our strength is building and we're gaining momentum again, BAM another hit causes us to stumble.
You see the enemy is really good at trash talk in our most challenging moments. He'll try and make you believe there is no hope, that you're losing the fight and that you should just give up.
It's so easy to feel alone in those moments isn't it? But the truth is we never are. It is when we're struggling that God is closest. That's when it's hardest to feel him, hard to hear him. But it's because we're so distracted by the trial and the fight we forget our trainer is behind us. You have the king of kings in your corner. The man who conquered death itself! The enemy is no match for you. That trial is no competition for the God of the universe!
So why wait for the round to be over? You may be bent over in pain, but you're not broken...You may have some cuts and bruises but you're far from beaten!
Stay focused on the purpose. And there's always purpose for the pain, always a plan in the struggle. Every hit you take is making you more prepared to face the next one. Every time you stand back up after a punch you're giving God glory. You're strengthening your character, your faith is growing because you're saying "I don't Give up. By the Grace of God, I'm still here."
And God's grace doesn't run out, even when our energy does. He is still there, still stronger and Bigger than anything we face.
So it's time for us to put our fists up and land some punches of our own. It's time to get out of the corner.
In the ring of life, moments will come when you fall flat on your face, where it seems like the enemy has gotten the best of you. You can hear some cheering because they want to see you fail, while others are booing because they're fighting the enemy with you, and it is then that you have a choice to make...
You can throw in the towel and quit, or you can get back up, get your fists up and get in the fight! It doesn't matter how many times you fall. Just do not stay on the ground!
“For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.” Proverbs 24:16
“Defeat is temporary; quitting makes it final.” Never quit or give up. Jesus Christ is your trainer, and the Holy Ghost is your sponsor.
God is for you, and if He be for you what can ever stand against you? Romans 8:31
The enemy has already been defeated! So Hold on, get those fists up and keep fighting. You are more than a conqueror! And at the end, your hand will be raised as your King crowns you Champion!
Stop living defeated, don't you see the victory is already yours and no person or trial can ever take that from you!
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