Get into the ring...

"I must break you." The famous words spoken by Ivan Drago as the ultimate boxing match is about to start in the movie Rocky IV. If you've never seen this movie, you may be a bit lost by the quote, but I highly recommend watching it. It's a classic. If you've seen this movie, then what I'm about to share will hopefully make sense and may even encourage you to keep going.

From time to time, I find myself watching boxing movies when my soul is heavy with the weight of life's difficult circumstances. Recently, I've been navigating a change at work, and the stress and strain have taken a toll on my physical, mental, and emotional health. It has produced a heaviness of discouragement. A job I once enjoyed has become something I hate.

I did not expect to be in this place after 5 years, but here I am. The stress and lack of effective support have brought up familiar triggers that result in feelings of being all alone in the trials. But I’m not alone. I’ve got God on my side. That is the truth I am clinging to at the present moment. My feelings say otherwise, but if his words are true, I need to hold onto what he says. He will not leave me or forsake me, even in the trials.

I fail when I expect the people around me not to fall into self-preservation, at my expense. When it produces anger in me, I allow the enemy to get his foot in the door of my heart, where bitterness and resentment start to grow. The enemy wears the opposite of the shoes of peace and wherever the soles of his feet tread, he brings destruction. This is why we shouldn't let his foot in the door in the first place.

Back to boxing… So the fight of faith is the fight to see things with spiritual eyes. To see things in our natural circumstances with spiritual eyes. It is warfare, it is contending. It is a boxing match. The fight between our flesh and our spirit. Pugilist, Prizefighter.

Jesus is the author and perfector of our faith. He is the one who is shaping our spiritual journey. At the same time, we have to engage in the spiritual fight. And we need to engage in the process by believing and standing on his word. We need to engage in the process of believing in his word over what our natural circumstances tell us. And sometimes we need to cling to his word like our lives depend on it. This is what that fight in the boxing ring is all about. Every time negative thoughts come in, echoed by the people around us, or negative circumstances mount up like the afflictions of Job, every time we choose to fight back, we launch a blow against hell. We do this by clinging to the word of truth, the word of God. It is something we are called to do as we are walking with the Lord.

Seasons where we walk through the valleys are where we have those fights. We've got to keep moving towards our moment when we can stand tall on the mountain top to bask in the glory of our victory. Mountain top moments are when we can see from spiritual heights. In the valley, it takes faith to believe in what we will eventually see from the top of the mountain. If we give up, though, if we lay ourselves down to die in the valley, we do ourselves a disservice. And yet, there is still potential in those moments for God to bring miracles, as in the book of Ezekiel with the valley of dry bones.

There are times when we get knocked down and fall into a pit, and we feel like we can’t do this anymore. God's spirit is the one who gives us the power to get up when we are laid on the ground. When we feel like we can’t get up, his spirit is the one who whispers, “get up.” He shouts from the sidelines, get up, Get Up, GET UP!!! His spirit empowers us to get up and keep fighting.

We need to trust that even when we are knocked down and laid out flat, he will get us up. It is his spirit that gives us life. It is no longer our flesh that drives our success in the fight. It is his spirit that has raised us to life, and he will continue to raise us, every time we fall.

When you are going through trials and you feel like you can't take one more thing. Don’t be surprised when the night of mourning passes, you wake up the next day with renewed strength. A renewed hope. Renewed Joy. That is the work of the holy spirit raising us up to keep fighting in the ring.

It's hard. The fight and the journey are hard. If we are committed to the life of following Jesus, we need to trust that he will get us up. He has a greater purpose, and he will not let us falter.

It is hard to continue to pray while we watch people continue to choose horrendous paths and chaos. Everything that is counter to the will of God. It’s hard to watch it. It’s hard to believe that our prayers will be answered when we keep seeing circumstances unchanged. It is hard to keep praying and believing decade after decade that things will change. To continue to contend in prayer, to continue to contend in faith, to continue to contend and not give up, is hard.

But we are not excused from the ring. We are called to it. It is our greatest calling. To contend for our faith.

Once, a long time ago, while going through a very difficult season, Holy Spirit whispered gently, while I laid out on the ground, everything in me wanting to give up… “You are my prizefighter.” It is his word to you, too. You are his Prizefighter. Get in the ring and fight with everything you've got. With God, you will not lose. You've just got to get in the ring.

Hebrews 10:32-39 NIV

32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,

“In just a little while,

he who is coming will come

and will not delay.”[f]

38 And,

“But my righteous[g] one will live by faith.

And I take no pleasure

in the one who shrinks back.”[h]

39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.