Get Up Fighters

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. (1 Timothy 6:11-15 ESV). News anchor Dan Rather admits he was always fascinated by the sport of boxing, even though he was never good at it. “In boxing you’re on your own; there’s no place to hide,” he says. “At the end of the match only one boxer has his hand up. That’s it. He has no one to credit or to blame except himself.” Rather, who boxed in high school, says his coach’s greatest goal was to teach his boxers that they absolutely, positively, without question, had to be “get up” fighters. “If you’re in a ring just once in your life, completely on your own, and you get knocked down but you get back up again, it’s an never-to-be-forgotten experience. Your sense of achievement is distinct and unique. And sometimes the only thing making you get up is someone in your corner yelling.” Like boxing, we don’t need to go through life alone. There are many experiences that we face that seem insurmountable. However, our promise from God is that we will never be left alone to face them. Like David who went on to the battlefield to face Goliath, he walked out from the ranks of the other soldiers alone, but he was never truly by himself. His faith and trust in God’s presence led him to victory through the challenge. Yes, he threw the sling, but God gave him the strength for the victory. So it is in our lives. There are others in our corner as well. God has placed men and women in our path that act as our coaches and trainers. Often we find it difficult to recognize them, but they are there. God’s promise to never leave us alone is fulfilled through their presence as well. We have someone in our corner! Life has a way of knocking us down from time to time. Perhaps it’s because of some poor choices you have made in the past, or it may be just life itself. Either way, we must not stay down. Listen to the people in your corner. God always provides encouragement to be “get up fighters.” A young man who had grown weary in the fight, whether he ought to give up the struggle once asked an elderly lady. “I am beaten every time,” he said dolefully. “I feel I must give up.” “Did you ever notice,” she replied, smiling into the troubled face before her, “that when the Lord told the discouraged fishermen to cast their nets again, it was right in the same old spot where they had been fishing all night and had caught nothing?”