Ringing of the Bell

I love boxing. It’s one of the few things on television that can capture my full attention for hours. The actual blood, sweat and time that people put into their training has always resonated somewhere deep down inside me.

It takes great self esteem to get into a ring. It takes great courage knowing a physical beating is about to occur. It takes great strength to get up when you get knocked down. It takes so much more than skill. It takes a rare breed of heart to be a fighter.

I am a fighter. It’s who I am. Not physically anymore thank goodness. I’m too old for that shit. But even still, the lessons I learned long ago have always stuck with me:

#1 Listen to your coach.

#2 A still duck is a dead duck; Keep moving.

#3 Push through when it hurts.

#4 Keep your gloves up when you are cornered.

#5 If you get knocked down, take a breath, shake it off and get back up.

#6 When you feel you have nothing left in you, swing anyway.

#7 Never stop fighting… and that reason is my favorite lesson learned… Because until that final bell is rung, it’s not over. The score card doesn’t always determine the winner. Your opponent may have hit you more times and may have even knocked you on your ass a few, but it is never time to give up,

It only takes one solid hit to win a fight.

I have to be honest here, my faith in God and His goodness has served me well in my many bouts with life’s hard hits. I have had a strong core. I trained diligently and my heart’s stubbornness has outmatched life on most occasions. I have fought and I have won.

However lately, I realize I have not felt as strong as I once did. My heart hasn’t been in the fight. Somewhere, I started to give up. I stopped moving forward because I’ve become weary because life has just stopped making sense. I dropped my gloves because it all had become so overwhelming. I’ve been taking more hits than I’ve been giving. I’ve kept swinging, but begun feeling the defeat coming on more often than the win. I haven’t known why the losses have been so great, and it’s all been very disheartening. And I have kept asking the question… why?

And then tonight, God shows up and He reminds me I don’t always need to know why, I just need to remember Who. Some things have to happen for greater things to come about. And even then, some fights are not my fights. Sometimes, I don’t even have to get into the ring!!! The final bell has already been rung and the victor has already been declared. He’s won the title on my behalf. And the truth is I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus who loves me. No weapon formed against me shall prosper.

There will be plenty of bouts to take place, I know. Yet, I am confident that in the fights where He calls me back into the ring, He will be there in my corner and I will fight the good fight. But this is not that time… This fight is finished. I don’t have to swing anymore. I can rest in His victory. For the Champion is the King. And the King is My Daddy. And My Daddy’s got this one in the bag.

Ding! Ding!