Beaten Up But Not Beaten

How many are maligned, brow beat, beaten down, battered and bruised. Some by people. Some by the circumstances of life. Some limp along. Some get knocked down and stay down. They never recover. They never get up off the canvass. They never answer the next bell.

I heard the phrase, "I've been beaten up but I am not beaten," today. Have you been beaten up? Physically, emotionally, or psychologically? It happens everyday. Ask the battered wife a victim of domestic abuse. Ask the physically abused child who barely copes with life day in and day out and often acts out their pain in the classroom. Ask the bullied child who carries those wounds into adulthood.

How many workers are so emotionally beaten down by tyrant bosses they are barely able to function on the job. They grow disillusioned, bitter, and think about quitting. Eventually thoughts of quitting dominate the mind. If they persist sooner or later they will follows the thoughts.

How many people go through life beaten up and beaten. They are defeated. They give up on life. They give up on faith. Many times they give up on God. They are beaten.

This is not the attitude God wants us to approach life. He wants us to endure, to persevere, and to persist. Hebrews 12:1 (NASB) 
¹  Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,  James 5:10-11 (NASB)
¹⁰  As an example, brethren, of suffering and patience, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.
¹¹  We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

Jeremiah was beaten up, thrown into prison. He was beaten up but  not beat. He spoke for the Lord to the very end. Paul was stoned, whipped, flogged, and jailed. He was beaten up but not beaten. He never gave up. He kept pressing on. He endured. until they killed him. Jesus endured the cross. They killed him but they did not beat him. His death has brought triumph to millions of lives. 

Persevering people are an inspiration to me. I love reading their stories. They overcame obstacles and all odds. As a child I loved these stories in sports figures. Today I love these stories in Christians. Some such people will never have anything written about them. They write their own stories with their lives. The way they live is more masterful than anything an author could pen on a page. 

I salute every person who has been beaten up but is not beaten. I applaud your tenacity to cling to God, faith, and hope. I applaud your perseverance and gritty persistence. I affirm your determination to keep getting back up when you have been knocked down. You inspire me to do the same.  You may have been beaten up but not beaten.