"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is doe!"
The world is not all sunshine and rainbows. The eternal optimists try to make it sound that way but ugly things happen in this life. Sin ravages individuals, families, communities, and even countries. Diseases destroy the ones we love. Tragedies happen. In the aftermath of those situations we experience that life on planet earth can be mean and nasty. Life can hit so hard it beats you down to your knees. Some people choose to live there permanently. They stay down for the count. They may go on living physically but they wither and die emotionally and spiritually.
It is true the devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. It is also true that Jesus came to give life and to give it more abundantly. [John 10:10] Paul exhorts us to rejoice always. [Phil 4:4] I think one of the great keys to life is trusting God to keep getting back up when we have been hit hard by adversity. Sometimes it would be easier to stay down and give up. That is not the abundant life we are called to in Christ. We are called to get up again. We are called to persevere.
When Paul thought about the Thessalonian believers he wrote how he was thankful for them in large measure because of three things; their love for one another, their faith, and their perseverance. [II Thess 1:3-4] The word perseverance means they were steadfast. They endured persecution. They were hit hard by life. They were repeatedly knocked to their knees by pawns of Satan.
Even though they got knocked down they did not stay down. They kept getting back up and through faith trusting God for better days. We all get hit hard by life at some point. Some get hit harder. Getting hit by life is not the point. Nobody avoids painful blows in a lifetime. We all get hit at some point and many times those blows come unexpectedly. When we get knocked down what do we do next. is important.
We have a choice. We can stay down. We can give up on God, give up on people, give up on our dreams, and give up on living the abundant life. Or we can choose to wipe our bloody noses and stagger back to our feet. We can choose to fight the good fight of faith to the very end.
I love the Rocky movies. I also love the lines he quips to his son, "But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done."
Farmers are constantly hit with droughts, hail storms, freezing temperatures, and floods. They get hit hard and year after year they mount up on the seats of their tractors and plant, sow, and trust God for the harvest. They keep moving forward. Athletes train and play. They get knocked down and pushed back, They are often injured. The champions always get back up and persevere to the end. They keep moving forward. Fighters do not give into cancer easily. They endure treatments, pray, and keep moving forward. Missionaries brave the forces of darkness to lead lost souls to Christ. They are often rejecected and at times persecuted. They do not give up easily. Laid off workers do not give up but they pound the pavement to apply for jobs, send resumes, and make phone calls until they are employed again. They persevere. Parents endure sleepless nights with toddlers and then with rebellious teenagers. Parenting can be tough but the rewards are worth getting back up again.
The older I get the more I realize how little I am really in control. I do not control the weather though I pray. I do not control other people's decisions. I do not control the economy or our politicians. What I can control is when life hits hard I can choose to trust God in faith and get back up. I can trust God for the strength to keep moving forward with endurance come whatever may stand before me. I can persevere through Christ who strengthens me. [Phil 4:13]
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